An FBI investigation is shaking up the most popular sport in the United States, linking the word NBA to mafia business. Everything is coming to light: illegal gambling, bets won thanks to confidential information, and victims lured through deception. Among more than 30 arrests, three NBA stars also ended up in handcuffs: Terry Rozier, Chauncey Billups, and Damon Jones, respectively, guard for the Miami Heat, coach of the Portland Blazers in the NBA, and former NBA star. The first for an FBI investigation into sports betting, the other two for an illegal poker operation linked to the Mafia, in a criminal system that also involved four of the main Italian mafia families in New York: Bonanno, Genovese, Gambino and Lucchese.
Confidential information of the league leaked – such as injuries of players before a game or during the game – on one side. Victims lured by NBA stars for illegal poker games on the other. The investigation that the whole world is talking about and that is shaking the NBA has two different strands: the largest is the one related to poker (called “Operation Royal Flush”), for which more than 30 people
have been arrested. The individuals involved used hidden cameras, special contact lenses, or special glasses to read the cards, causing the victims, called “fish,” to lose more than 7 million dollars because they were “lured” through deception.The accusations against the three NBA stars
As for Rozier, at the time of his arrest he was in a hotel with his team after losing to the Orlando Magic in the opening game of the new NBA season. He had not played on the court. Rozier – who also played in the Conference Finals with the Boston Celtics in 2018 – had been at the center of investigations for some time in a case of alleged illegal betting. Specifically, it concerns a March 2023 game between Charlotte, where Rozier was playing at the time, and New Orleans. Bookmakers in several states had reported an unusual flow of bets on Rozier's stats in the lead-up to that game. An unexpected surge in bets, including 30 in just over half an hour by a professional bettor for a total of $13,759, betting on Rozier's under, points, rebounds, and assists. The guard played only 10 minutes in that game before exiting with a foot injury. Chauncey Billups and Damon Jones were arrested as part of the investigation directly linked to illegal poker and the Mafia.
Over thirty arrests: the illegal poker system involving four mafia families
According to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York, the investigation – which has been ongoing for years in coordination with the FBI – has led to the arrests of more than thirty people in eleven states, including Billups, former player Damon Jones, and Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier. Federal prosecutors are talking about two separate but related criminal schemes: one involving sports betting and league-level information, and the other a system of rigged poker games organized between Manhattan, the Hamptons, Las Vegas, and Miami.
During the poker games, the individuals involved allegedly used hidden cameras, special contact lenses, or glasses capable of reading cards. The prosecutor stated that an X-ray table capable of reading the face-down cards on the table was also used. The victims – who reportedly lost at least $7 million – were called “fish” and were lured by the presence of some sports celebrities, the so-called “face cards,” including Billups and Jones, who, according to investigators, unknowingly helped lure investors into the ring.
Attorney General Joseph Nocella called the operation"one of the largest ever conducted against illegal gambling in the United States," explaining that the criminal system also involved the four main New York Mafia families mentioned above. FBI Director Kash Patel described it as a"colossal fraud, amounting to tens of millions of dollars," emphasizing that the investigation had "exposed the ties between the professional sports world and organized crime."
The latest precedents in the NBA
Four months ago, another former NBA star, Gilbert Arenas, was arrested in California for illegal high-stakes poker games at a home in the Los Angeles area. In recent years, gambling investigations have also extended to active NBA players: Jontay Porter pleaded guilty in federal court and was banned for life from the NBA in 2024 for violating sports gambling rules.
