Live Reporting
Edited by Matt Spivey and Caitlin Wilson
-
FBI remains focused on Italian organised crime in New Yorkpublished at 15:42 BST
Raia says the FBI has never taken its “eye off the ball” when it comes to Italian organised crime in New York.
He says they will not permit any crime organisations to operate in the city of the country, he says.
“This is only the tip of the iceberg,” he says, adding the FBI is working day and night to ensure members of the five families “cannot continue to wreak havoc in our communities”.
-
Victims ‘hustled’ to fund organised crimepublished at 15:39 BST
We’ve just heard from Christopher Raia, the FBI assistant director of the New York field office.
He says the investigation was a “massive nationwide takedown” of 34 defendants spanning two separate cases where he says the odds were “rigged in their favour”.
He says the case involved 13 members and associates of the Bonanon, Genovese and Gambino crime families. The case also involved former and current NBA players, including Rozier, and coaches, including Billups.
Three of the defendants were charged in both of the cases, he says.
Reia says the defendants “hustled” unwitting victims out of tens of millions of dollars to fund the Italian crime families in New York.
-
X-ray table and special contact lenses rigged poker gamespublished at 15:37 BST
Nocella says some of the defendants used special contact lenses and eye glasses to read pre-marked cards, and an X-ray table that could read cards when they were face-down.
The mafia became involved in the rigged games and took a cut of proceedings and enforced collection of debts, he says.
-
Proceeds laundered via bank wires and cryptopublished at 15:35 BST
Nocella says the illicit money from the poker games was then laundered via bank wires and crypto currencies.
The suspects also allegedly committed acts of violence, including a gun point robbery to obtain rigged card shuffling machine, and extortion against victims.
He says the defendants in rigged poker games are charged with wire fraud conspiracy, others have been charged with money laundering, robbery and extortion.
-
Inside info on athletes at teams fed illegal gambling schemepublished at 15:34 BST
Talking about the NBA basketball gambling case, Nocella lists a number of defendants, including current NBA player Terry Rozier.
He says between December 2022 and March 2024 the defendants perpetrated a scheme to defraud by betting on inside, non-public information about NBA athletes and teams.
They placed hundreds of thousands of dollars in fraudulent bets, mostly based on individual player performance, he says, and most bets succeeded.
They then laundered their illegal winnings in various ways, he says, adding each defendant has been charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering.
-
Victims ‘fleeced’ at poker with sophisticated techpublished at 15:32 BST
Nocella is getting into the intricate details of the poker scheme.
The defendants “fleeced the victims” out of tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars per game, he says.
He says they used “very sophisticated” technology like off-the-shelf shuffling machines that were altered that some of the defendants provided in exchange for a share of the profits.
The altered technology could read the cards and predict who had the best deck and relay that information, Nocella says.
That info was sent to a co-conspirator at the table known as the “quarterback”, according to Nocella.
The quarterback then signalled that information to other plays who used it to win games, Nocella explains.
-
Rigged poker games at centre of one casepublished at 15:30 BST
The illegal gambling case began in 2019, Nocella says, with defendants allegedly using wireless cheating technology to run rigged poker games in the Hamptons, Las Vegas, Miami, and Manhattan.
He says the targeted victims called “fish” were lured to play in rigged games with former professional athletes, called “face cards.” Those included Chauncey Billups and Damon Jones.
The victims didn’t know that the everybody else including dealer and other players were in on the scam, Nocella says.
-
Indictments cover sports betting and illegal gamblingpublished at 15:27 BST
Image source, USAO Eastern District of New York/YouTube.US attorney for the Eastern District of New York, Joseph Nocella Jr, says he is announcing indictments in two major cases, both involving fraud.
One involves sports betting, and the other involves illegal gambling, “very specifically rigged poker games”, he says.
The first indictment involves six defendants who are alleged to have participated in “one of the most brazen sports corruption schemes since online sports betting became widely legalised”.
He says it exploited confidential information about NBA athletes and teams.
The other involves 31 defendants are alleged to have participated in a scheme to rig illegal poker games and steal millions of dollars in games backed by crime families of La Casa Nostra.
-
‘Your luck has run out’published at 15:23 BST
Prosecutors are still walking us through the charges against a host of defendants.
They say there are several cases that are related, but separate.
US Attorney Joseph Nocella says all defendants are innocent until proven guilty.
But, he warns them: “Your winning streak has ended. Your luck has run out.”
-
Investigations spanned money laundering and crypto fraudpublished at 15:22 BST
Patel says the investigations have spanned several areas including money laundering and crypto fraud.
He says this shows that under Trump’s leadership will not tolerate this kind of fraud. He thanks other law enforcement partners and prosecutors and investigators.
Patel adds that the government will ensure accountability and that the alleged suspects will have their day in court where evidence will be presented.
-
‘Wide-sweeping criminal enterprise’published at 15:21 BST
Patel says he and others are in New York to announce historic arrests “across a wide-sweeping criminal enterprise that envelops both the NBA and La Cosa Nostra”.
The team there have brought “profound justice”, he says.
He says individuals such as Chauncey Billups, Terry Rozier Damon Jones have been taken into custody today.
“This is an illegal gambling operation and sports rigging operation that spanned the course of years. The FBI led a coordinated takedown across 11 states to arrest over 30 individuals today,” he says, adding the case is ongoing.
-
Patel calls fraud ‘mind-boggling’published at 15:18 BST
Image source, USAO Eastern District of New York/YouTubeFBI Director Kash Patel tells reporters that the investigation took down members of the NBA and several crime families.
He says it is a part of the FBI’s mandate to keep America safe and keep the entertainment industry fair and secure.
Patel calls the fraud that took place “mind-boggling”.
He says the fraud involved tens of millions of dollars in theft and robbery across many years.
-
Officials giving update in NBA sports betting scandalpublished at 15:16 BST
Breaking
Officials have started speaking at a new conference on the ongoing cases into illegal betting involving some NBA stars.
We’ll bring you the latest updates – you can follow along by clicking Watch live above.
-
Court appearances expected later todaypublished at 15:11 BST
John Marzulli, the public information officer for the Eastern District, has just told reporters that those who have been arrested will appear in court later today in the places they were arrested.
Billups will appear in Portland following Trail Blazers’ home game overnight.
Rozier was in Orlando for the Miami Heat’s defeat to the Magic, although he did not play in the game.
They’ll be arraigned in court in Brooklyn, New York, where the investigation took place, at a later date.
-
Billups and Rozier arrested in separate casespublished at 15:05 BST
As we wait for the news conference to get under way, we can bring you some more information about the arrests.
Though these high-profile arrests have happened on the same day, they are part of separate but related illegal gambling cases, CBS reports.
Miami Heat player Terry Rozier was among six people arrested, including other players who may have faked injuries, according to reports.
Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups, meanwhile, is one of 31 people charged in a separate illegal poker game case involving coaches and organised crime figures, law enforcement sources told CBS.
As we reported earlier, former NBA player Damon Jones has also been arrested, according to CBS.
-
Law enforcement officials about to speakpublished at 15:01 BST
FBI Director Kash Patel and other law enforcement officials are expected to speak shortly.
Stick with us as we bring you the latest lines, and you can click watch live at the top of this page.
-
Former NBA player Damon Jones also arrestedpublished at 14:54 BST
Breaking
Image source, NBAE via Getty ImagesThe list of NBA figures arrested in connection to a betting investigation is growing. Former NBA player Damon Jones has also been arrested, according to CBS News, the BBC’s US partner.
Jones played for a range of teams in his 10 year playing career including the Miami Heat, Milwaukee Bucks and the Cleveland Cavaliers, where he spent three seasons.
-
Billups present on NBA opening night, Rozier absentpublished at 14:50 BST
Jonty Colman
BBC Sport JournalistPortland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups oversaw his side’s opening night 118-114 defeat to the Minnesota Timberwolves at the Moda Center in Portland. That match finished at around 22:00 PST on Wednesday (06:00 BST on Thursday).
Billups held a post-match press conference following the game, further shortening the window in which these arrests would have taken place.
Meanwhile, Terry Rozier, who was named among the Miami Heat’s official squad list for the opening night matches, did not play for the Heat in their 125-121 defeat to the Orlando Magic overnight.
Rozier was not listed as an injury absentee but was reportedly at a hotel in Orlando when the arrest took place on Thursday morning.
That game started at 19:00 EST (00:00 BST on Thursday).
Image source, ReutersImage caption, Portland Trail Blazers Head Coach Chauncey Billups reacts during a time-out at a game against the Golden State Warriors in early October 2025
-
New York prosecutors and FBI chief to hold news conferencepublished at 14:37 BST
Prosecutors in New York and Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Kash Patel are expected to hold a news conference at 10:00 EST (15:00 BST) to announce the arrests in the cases and provide additional details.
We’ll bring you the latest updates on this as we get them.
-
Officials investigating heavy betspublished at 14:26 BST
Federal investigators had been probing unusual betting activity related to a March 2023 game Rozier played for the Charlotte Hornets, according to CBS.
Officials were investigating whether Rozier manipulated his performance in the game for an illegal sports gambling scheme, according to The Athletic, external.
During the game, Rozier played roughly nine minutes and scored five points against the New Orleans Pelicans because of a sore right foot.
Before that game, he averaged 35 minutes of playing time and about 21 points per game.
Image source, USA Today SportsImage caption, Charlotte Hornets guard Terry Rozier playing in January 2023
