2 hours ago
12
An alleged victim of the Mafia-led gambling operation which rocked the NBA has claimed that he was scammed out of $1million in a single night - and that the scheme was actually fronted by an an ex-NFL star.
The NBA was plunged into chaos earlier this week after the FBI launched a series of overnight arrests that saw Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups and former Cleveland Cavaliers player Damon Jones detained.
However, it now appears that the issue might spread across multiple sports following fresh allegations from an individual who claims that he was swindled out of $1million at a private, high-stakes poker game involving a former NFL star.
Speaking to the New York Post, the individual, who remained anonymous, said: 'During the game, we were around a bunch of bad guys, and they were trying to suck every bit away from us. And they did. They did a good job, and I'm still shell-shocked to this day from that night'.
The individual claimed he was invited to the poker game 'with a really solid group of people. We would never have been there if not for the professional athlete.'
The man did not name the athlete but indicated it was a former NFL player, according to the outlet.
An alleged victim of the Mafia-led gambling operation has claimed that he was scammed out of $1million in a single night - and that the scheme was actually fronted by an an ex-NFL star
The NBA was plunged into chaos earlier this week after the FBI launched a series of overnight arrests that saw Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups detained
He revealed that Curtis Meeks - who was named in the federal indictment on Thursday - was involved in the alleged rigged game that saw him and his friends lose $1million in a single night.
The unnamed individual claimed that he felt the situation was sketchy from the off, before becoming aware that they were being scammed midway through the game.
He alleges that it was initially planned for the ex-NFL star to join their poker game at a public location. However, he claims it was then changed to his high-rise apartment.
The alleged victim then claims that, once he and his friends arrived, the host doubled the buy-in price from $10,000 to $20,000.
He further explained: 'Those guys cheated with a device, and they cheated me and cheated other people who were good people. And they used a star athlete.
'They used the star to do it. They had us excited. The only reason they were able to pull this off was because they had a professional athlete in place,' the source said.
'We knew that it was a device because of how they would push. It wasn't like a thing where they could see the backs of cards. It was like, let's go all in before any cards even come out.
'They wouldn't let up in trying to get their money. It got scarier and scarier. Serious threats were made. Ultimately, we just agreed to pay them,' the victim explained.
DailyMail.com has obtained a picture showing Chauncey Billups (left) at a poker table in 2019 alongside two alleged co-conspirators; Sophia Wei (middle) and Saul Becher (behind Wei)
This multi-million-dollar townhouse in New York City was of many properties leveraged to run the alleged Mafia-led illegal betting operation that has rocked the NBA
The swanky Manhattan townhouse boasts a cozy interior with a large fireplace in one room
Meeks was among 31 individuals arrested in connection to the alleged poker ring, along with Angelo Ruggiero Jr, the son of late Gambino captain Angelo 'Quack Quack' Ruggiero Sr.
His father, Ruggiero Sr, had a close relationship with notorious Gambino boss John Gotti, who passed away in jail in 2002.
An attorney for Meeks was not listed, and his family could not be reached for comment.
According to the FBI's indictment, rigged poker games took place in Manhattan, the Hamptons and Las Vegas. The operation is allegedly tied to the Gambino, Bonanno and Genovese crime families.
In Thursday's press conference, United States Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr. outlined the breathtaking methods used by the group to rig games.
It is alleged that New York's notorious crime families would use X-ray tables to tilt games in their favor and wear special high-tech contact lenses to read pre-marked cards.
He said in a press conference on Thursday: '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 Mafia allegedly used X-ray tables and high-tech contact lenses to read people's cards
'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.'
Trail Blazers head coach Billups - who has since been placed on immediate leave - was among those arrested in connection to the alleged gambling ring.
A photo showing indicted NBA coach Billups at a poker table alongside two alleged co-conspirators was obtained by DailyMail.com earlier in the week.
However, 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.'
