NBA's biggest gambling scandal: FBI arrests 31 people, money laundered through cryptocurrencies

On October 23rd, the FBI announced the arrest of 31 people, including Miami Heat star Terry Rozier, Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups, and 13 members of New York's four major mafia families! The case involved insider trading in sports betting and underground poker cheating, totaling tens of millions of dollars in fraud across 11 states, with the funds laundered using cryptocurrency. FBI Director Kash Patel called it a "shocking fraud." The investigation, based on over 3,000 audio recordings, began in 2019. Even more shocking is that crypto influencer Dr.Hash was an eyewitness to this incident. Dr.Hash, a poker pro and recipient of the largest Aster airdrop, was previously scammed out of $4 million by the main cheater, “Shanne,” and even witnessed the entire process at a friend’s house. This gang has been categorized as a “transnational mafia” with a history of cheating for over a decade.

Yesterday, Dr. Hash was interviewed by the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times. I believe everyone will see reports soon.

The entire case is divided into two separate but intertwined schemes, spanning the Hamptons, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, Manhattan and other places.

The FBI said this is the first time that organized crime has infiltrated the legal sports betting market on a large scale.

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Scheme 1: Sports Betting Insider Trading

Protagonist

Method

Rozier allegedly provided insider information, such as injury information and game plans, to gamblers to manipulate "prop bets" (player performance betting). He was accused of faking injuries to manipulate betting outcomes. The FBI has evidence showing that this has directly impacted the odds on legal gambling platforms like DraftKings and FanDuel. Impact: This demonstrates that the mafia has moved from underground to "legal" gambling, with victims including ordinary gamblers and investors. Congressional investigations have expanded to include the Heat, Lakers, Raptors, Hornets, Trail Blazers, and other teams, questioning the NBA commissioner's open policy on gambling.

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Scheme 2: Underground Poker Cheating (Rigged Underground Poker Games)

Protagonists

: Chauncey Billups (Trail Blazers head coach), and the capos (bosses) and soldiers (soldiers) of the four major mafia families: Bonanno, Gambino, Genovese, and Lucchese. Methods: High-stakes poker games, using X-ray tables and chip analyzers to cheat. Dr. Hash was scammed using this scheme, with the funds laundered using cryptocurrencies such as BTC to avoid tracking. Charges: Wire fraud, money laundering, extortion, and illegal gambling. Billups was not involved in NBA game fixing, but was limited to mafia poker games.

Rozier and Billups appeared in court in Florida and Oregon respectively yesterday afternoon. Both denied the charges and their bail was set at millions of dollars.

The following is a table of key figures involved in the case (based on FBI announcements and media reports):

Finally, gambling is still the fairest on the chain - the blockchain is transparent and cannot be tampered with, and smart contracts prevent cheating.