Link: https://abcnews.go.com/US/miami-heat-terry-rozier-charged-nba-betting/story?id=126789368

Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups is among those charged in an illegal poker operation tied to the Mafia, while Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier is among several people charged in a separate but related illegal gambling case, authorities announced on Thursday.

Billups has been charged with wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy.

Both have immediately been placed on leave by their teams, the NBA said.

"We are in the process of reviewing the federal indictments announced today," the NBA said in a statement. "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 poker games, which included basketball players to lend credibility to their authenticity, were allegedly rigged in favor of those running the games, using advanced technology, such as rigged shuffling machines and even X-ray technology to read cards facing down on the table, U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr. said.

Games were organized beginning in 2019 in the Hamptons, Manhattan, Las Vegas and Miami, officials said. The profits from the alleged poker scheme ran up to $7 million "and counting," officials said. The investigation took place across two years, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said.

When victims, some of whom lost millions, refused to pay, the mob defendants resorted to violence, the NYPD said.

"The fraud is mindboggling," FBI Director Kash Patel said at a news conference in Brooklyn announcing the charges. "We're talking about tens of millions of dollars in theft, in fraud, in robbery."