Kylie Jenner and ex Travis Scott's $17million NYC love nest at center of NBA Mafia gambling scandal

A multi-million dollar New York City townhouse once used as a love nest by Kylie Jenner and Travis Scott was being leveraged to run the Mafia-led illegal betting operation that has rocked the NBA, according to police.

The swanky Greenwich Village townhouse is one of two locations in the Big Apple where the federal government claim four of Manhattan's most powerful crime families were running rigged games of poker and swindling victims out of millions in 2023.

It is also where Jenner lived with ex-boyfriend Scott in 2021, while she was pregnant with their second child, before they eventually relocated to the west coast 

The former celebrity couple were renting the townhouse, which was featured in a 2023 episode of 'The Kardashians' - the same year Mafia members and NBA stars were allegedly using it to host one of their main illegal poker games.

However, Jenner and Scott were not mentioned in the federal indictment brought against over 30 people accused of involvement in the betting operation backed by Mafia organization La Cosa Nostra, while there is no indication that either of them had any knowledge of it. 

The federal government also claims that it was raided by armed men that autumn following a dispute over a rival game taking place on the same night, with a group of mobsters storming the pad with guns and other weapons to bring it to a halt. It is said to have ended in a vicious brawl.

The six-story mansion at 80 Washington Place, which last sold in 2024 for $17million, is located just steps from Washington Square Park on one of New York City's most desirable blocks. It was on and off the market for over a decade before finally selling last year.

It boasts eight bathrooms, six bedrooms and a host of luxury amenities such as a wine cellar, tasting lounge, outdoor hot tub, glass elevator and a full outdoor Viking kitchen.

Others include Crestron home automation, a sky lit media room, a glass-enclosed sauna, a maid's quarters, a full butler's kitchen and three lush outdoor entertainment spaces.

Jenner, who is now dating Hollywood star Timothee Chalomet, split from Scott in early 2023. They continue to co-parent children Stormi, 7, and Aire, 3.

Among the 30 people charged in connection with the illegal betting and poker scheme are NBA star Terry Rozier and Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups.

Billups is charged in the indictment alleging a brazen scheme to rig underground poker games, while Rozier is accused of participating in an illegal sports betting scheme using private insider NBA information.

The alleged scheme is said to have lured victims into rigged poker games, which took place in the Hamptons, Miami and Las Vegas as well as Manhattan, by giving them the chance to play alongside former pro athletes, including Billups and Damon Jones.

In an explosive press conference on Thursday, United States Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr. outlined how associates of New York's infamous Bonanno, Gambino, Genovese and Luchese crime families used X-ray tables and high-tech contact lenses to read cards.

Nocella Jr. said: 'The defendants used a variety of very sophisticated cheating technologies, some of which were provided by other defendants in exchange for a share of the profits from the scheme.

'They used off the shelf shuffling machines that had been secretly altered in order to read the cards in the deck, predict which player at the table had the best poker hand and relay that information to an off-site operator.

'The off-side operator sent the information via cellphone back to a co-conspirator at the table, who was known as "the quarterback", and they secretly signaled the information they had received to others at the table and together they used that information in order to win the games and cheat their victims.

'Defendants used other cheating technologies, such as poker chip tray analyzers - which is a poker chip try that secretly reads cards using a hidden camera - special contact lenses or glasses that could read pre-marked cards and an X-ray table that could read cards faced down on the table.'

Nocella Jr. later revealed that the NBA has been cooperating with the investigation. In a statement to the Daily Mail, the NBA said: 'We are in the process of reviewing the federal indictments announced today. Terry Rozier and Chauncey Billups are being placed on immediate leave from their teams, and we will continue to cooperate with the relevant authorities.

'We take these allegations with the utmost seriousness, and the integrity of our game remains our top priority.'

The FBI, who have been investigating for four years, later claimed defendants robbed a victim at gunpoint in order to acquire a rigged shuffling machine. They say victims have lost at least $7million.

The indictment of Rozier and others says there are nine unnamed co-conspirators including a Florida resident who was an NBA player and an Oregon resident who was an NBA player from about 1997 to 2014 and an NBA coach since at least 2021, as well as a relative of Rozier.

Rozier was in uniform as the Heat played the Magic in Orlando, Florida, in the season opener for both teams on Wednesday evening, though he did not play in the game.

He was taken into custody in Orlando early Thursday morning. The team didn´t immediately comment on the arrest but his attorney, Jim Trusty, issued a statement to investigative reporter Pablo Torre.

It read: 'We have represented Terry Rozier for over a year. A long time ago we reached out to these prosecutors to tell them we should have an open line of communication. They characterized Terry as a subject, not a target, but at 6 a.m. this morning they called to tell me FBI agents were trying to arrest him in a hotel.

'It is unfortunate that instead of allowing him to self surrender they opted for a photo op. They wanted the misplaced glory of embarrassing a professional athlete with a perp walk. That tells you a lot about the motivations in this case. They appear to be taking the word of spectacularly in-credible sources rather than relying on actual evidence of wrongdoing.

'Terry was cleared by the NBA and these prosecutors revived that non-case. Terry is not a gambler, but he is not afraid of a fight, and he looks forward to winning this fight.'

The case was brought by the U.S. attorney´s office in Brooklyn that previously prosecuted ex-NBA player Jontay Porter.

The former Toronto Raptors center pleaded guilty to charges that he withdrew early from games, claiming illness or injury, so that those in the know could win big by betting on him to underperform expectations.

Billups was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame last year. The five-time All-Star and three-time All-NBA point guard led the Detroit Pistons to their third league title in 2004 as NBA Finals MVP.

Boston drafted the former Colorado star with the No. 3 pick overall in 1997. The player known as Mr. Big Shot also played for Toronto, Denver, Minnesota, the New York Knicks and the Los Angeles Clippers.

The 49-year-old Billups is in his fifth season as Portland´s coach, compiling a 117-212 record. The Trail Blazers opened the season Wednesday night at home with a 118-114 loss to Minnesota.

Chris Heywood, an attorney for Billups, told ESPN on Thursday night that his client is a 'man of integrity' who intends to fight the allegations against him.

'Anyone who knows Chauncey Billups knows he is a man of integrity; men of integrity do not cheat and defraud others,' Heywood said.

'To believe that Chauncey Billups did what the federal government is accusing him of is to believe that he would risk his hall-of-fame legacy, his reputation, and his freedom. He would not jeopardize those things for anything, let alone a card game.'