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Mafia that rigs matches through algorithms: The operation that revealed the hand of Cosa Nostra in the NBA...
One of the largest federal investigations of the last decade has erupted in the US, shaking the foundations of the NBA and exposing direct links between sports figures and New York mafia families.
According to the Justice Department and the FBI, more than 30 people have been arrested in a wide-ranging operation involving rigged betting, rigged poker and money laundering, a network that, according to authorities, was supported by La Cosa Nostra, the notorious Italian-American crime organization that includes the Bonanno, Genovese, Gambino and Lucchese families.
The investigation, which has lasted several years, has uncovered a sophisticated system of fraud that extends from the halls of the NBA to the underground casinos of Las Vegas and Atlantic City, where players, coaches and mafia intermediaries have illegally profited millions of dollars.
NBA stars at the center of the scandal
Among those arrested are Terry Rozier (Miami Heat) and Chauncey Billups, Portland Trail Blazers coach and former NBA star, while the name of Damon Jones, a former player and coach, appears in the investigation as part of the rigged poker network.
According to federal prosecutors, Rozier allegedly provided inside information on his physical condition and performance in several games between February 2023 and March 2024, allowing bettors to place safe bets through online platforms and cryptocurrency betting.
One of the key games mentioned by investigators is that of March 2023, when Rozier played only 9 minutes due to a "foot injury", while previously several large bets had been placed on this detail, information that had not yet been made public.
Meanwhile, Chauncey Billups and another group of 31 people are suspected of involvement in a rigged poker scheme, where victims were invited to play with “former famous athletes,” but the game was completely rigged. Other players at the table, including the dealers, were part of the scheme, and the cards were checked through special lenses, X-ray tables, and programmed card shuffling machines.
The return of Cosa Nostra to a new terrain: sports
This latest investigation has brought back into focus the five historic families of the American mafia: Bonanno, Colombo, Gambino, Genovese and Lucchese, which have ruled organized crime in New York and surrounding cities since the 1930s.
According to authorities, members of the Bonanno and Genovese families were the financial guarantors of the operations, providing protection, credit and logistics for the "safe games".
"This is no longer the mafia of the '70s. It's a digital Cosa Nostra, using cryptocurrencies, artificial intelligence and social networks to hide profits and manipulate the betting market," an FBI agent said during a press conference in Manhattan.
In one of the documented schemes, a group affiliated with the Gambino family used offshore betting platforms registered in the Cayman Islands to launder over $12 million in illegal poker and sports betting winnings.
Violence and fear behind the scenes
Investigators also uncovered episodes of physical violence and blackmail against people who refused to pay gambling debts. One of the most serious incidents occurred in New Jersey, where a card-shuffling device was taken at gunpoint, while another victim was kidnapped to force him to transfer money from a crypto account.
Officials said the victims lost about $7 million, with one person losing over $1 million in a series of rigged poker games.
The NBA's reaction and the blow to the league's reputation
The NBA has issued an official statement emphasizing that it is "fully cooperating with federal authorities and will take immediate disciplinary action against any player or coach found to be involved."
A league spokesman said there was no evidence that college games or other championships were affected, but the admission that an active player may have influenced betting through inside information has shaken the NBA's credibility.
Cosa Nostra in the crypto age
For organized crime experts, this case confirms that the American mafia has not disappeared, but has modernized.
British professor Anna Sergi, one of the leading researchers of the modern mafia, described New York as the "gym of the Italian mafia", where young members are trained in sophisticated financial and technological operations.
"La Cosa Nostra has evolved, they are no longer in the shadows, but in algorithms. They no longer deal with streets, but with data and bets. And sport is the perfect terrain for them," she told the BBC.
The FBI's operation against the mafia-linked sports betting network is just the tip of the iceberg of a new phenomenon: organized crime of the digital age.
If the allegations are proven, this could be the largest case of sports corruption in US history, and a major blow to the NBA, which for decades has been considered a model of sporting purity.
La Cosa Nostra, although hit hard in the 90s by the RICO law and Giuliani's campaigns, seems to have found a way to revive itself, no longer on the streets of the Bronx, but in modern basketball betting. /Pamphlet
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