US, NBA scandal: illegal betting and poker. FBI: 'Italian mafia involved'

They had allegedly bet on their games in the NBA, the world's most important basketball league, and organised illegal online poker games. This is the judicial scandal brought to light by the FBI. Almost forty (at the moment, it would be thirty-eight) people have been arrested, linked both to the Italian-American families of Cosa Nostra and to the American basketball championship, which began on the night of Wednesday 22 to Thursday 23 October.

Two different proceedings, with three individuals involved in both. The charges include wire fraud, money laundering, extortion and illegal gambling.

The first case concerns a sports betting conspiracy that exploited confidential information on basketball players. Among the six arrested is Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier. He was allegedly stopped just after the first championship game, after returning from a loss in Orlando.

His profile had already been watched by the feds in the past, starting with a suspicious game, played in early 2023, in which he had left the court after ten minutes due to a foot problem. The Nba, which said it was ready to cooperate, had investigated internally but had not found any matches.

The scheme, explained New York District Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr, is based on the use of information about athletes and franchises, such as injuries or situations in which players would be sidelined. It is therefore betting - in the hundreds of thousands of dollars - on individual events or performances not related to the outcome of a game, and therefore 'easier to manipulate'. That is why FBI director Kash Patel, who called the case 'shocking', likened it to 'insider trading in the NBA'. 'A historic operation, involving different entities in eleven states,' he added.