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Celebrities, professional sports stars and wealthy gamblers sat at a table hoping to win big in a game of Texas Hold ‘Em.
But they didn’t know it was nearly impossible. They were “fishes” allegedly being targeted by the mafia in an elaborate poker gambling scheme that included X-ray card tables, secret cameras, analysers in chip trays and sunglasses and contact lenses that could read their hand.
In what sounds like an Ocean’s Eleven film plot, prosecutors say these “unwitting” victims were cheated out of at least $7m (£5.25m) in poker games – with one person losing at least $1.8m.
The scheme, which US prosecutors described as “reminiscent of a Hollywood movie”, was dismantled in a sprawling federal investigation that led to more than 30 arrests, including members of La Costra Nostra crime families, Portland Trail Blazers basketball coach Chauncey Billups and former National Basketball Association (NBA) player Damon Jones.
FBI director Kash Patel called it a “mind-boggling” fraud scheme that cheated victims in New York, Miami, Las Vegas and other US cities.
Arrests in the scheme were announced on Thursday along with those in an alleged basketball betting plot, in which professional NBA players are accused of faking injuries to influence betting odds.
The underground poker scheme started as early as 2019, prosecutors say, and was allegedly operated by the mafia – specifically by members of notorious crime families, including Bonnano, Gambino, Luchesse and Genovese. A cut of the profits, prosecutors say, helped fund their criminal enterprise.
Former professional athletes, described by prosecutors as “face cards”, were enlisted to help in the scheme and entice victims into playing.
Lured in by the opportunity to play with a high-profile celebrity – such as Billups or Jones – a wealthy, “unwitting victim” would be recruited for illegal, underground poker games where tens of thousands of dollars were on the line, prosecutors allege.
Unbeknownst to the lured-in players – referred to in the scheme as a “fish” – everyone surrounding them was in on the elaborate scam – from the players to the dealers, even the technology used to shuffle the deck and count the chips, according to a lengthy federal indictment.
Sophisticated wireless technology was also used to deceive the players during the games, most commonly in Texas Hold ‘Em.
The technology was everywhere – an X-ray table that read any face-down card, analysers inside chip trays, a rigged shuffling machine that read cards and predicted who would have the best hand, and pre-marked cards that allowed those wearing special sunglasses and contact lenses to read what was in everyone’s hands.
Secretive cameras – built into tables and light fixtures – also helped convey information to those helping in the plot, authorities say.
Then there was also a sophisticated method of communicating and rigging the game, prosecutors allege.
Information from the game would be sent to an off-site conspirator – called an “operator” by prosecutors – who then would send information to another player sitting at the table who was in on the scheme – who prosecutors call a “quarterback” or “driver”.
That person would then secretly signal to others, prosecutors allege, effectively stealing money and making it impossible for victims to win.
Authorities estimate that each game would leave a victim out of tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Prosecutors say the defendants allegedly laundered the funds from the scheme through cryptocurrency, cash exchanges and shell companies.
A cut of the profits went to those who helped in the plot, prosecutors say, and some allegedly went to fund the mafia’s criminal enterprise.
“This alleged scheme wreaked havoc across the nation, exploiting the notoriety of some and the wallets of others to finance the Italian crime families,” said FBI Assistant Director in Charge Christopher Raia.
Billups, who was accused of being a face card in the fixed card games, was arrested in Portland and was placed on leave by the NBA. The Portland Trail Blazers said in a statement that they were aware of the allegations involving their head coach and were “fully co-operating with the investigation”.
Jones was arrested in relation to both the poker and NBA injuries scheme. He is charged with two counts each of wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy.
