Authorities claim to have captured a Brooklyn suspect in connection with an illicit betting operation involving the ex-NBA player Jontay Porter.
Long Phi Pham is being accused of working with others to bet against a player's performance in two games, stating that the player would drop out of these games due to health concerns. This was supposed to make the "unders" successful, according to an FBI agent's signed document.
The filing refers to the player as "Player 1", but after examining court documents, CNN has determined that the player in question is former Toronto Raptors member Jontay Porter, who was barred from the NBA a few months ago.
Prop bets can also be known as wagers on individual statistics, and "unders" refer to bets where someone believes the stat will be less than the figure suggested by a sports betting organization.
Pham, who was arrested on Monday at an airport where he was set to board a flight to Australia, made a court appearance on Tuesday. He was remanded in custody until his trial, as per a statement from prosecutors in the Eastern District of New York, which also mentioned that three other individuals involved in the scheme are still at large. These people's names were not disclosed in the documents.
Michael Soshnick, Pham's attorney, was contacted by CNN for comment.
CNN reached out to a representative for Porter as well.
"Whether in the arena or at the casino, every point matters," said US Attorney Breon Peace. "The defendant and his co-conspirators, together with an NBA player, engaged in a shameless, illicit betting scheme. This case highlights how they corrupted two games and numerous bets. This legal action serves as a warning that deception and dishonesty in professional sports will not be condoned and those responsible for this kind of lawless behavior will face the consequences."
The complaint suggests that the player shared information about his planned early exits with the gamblers
The player had significant gambling debts, says the court document, citing text messages, phone records, and money transfer evidence. Pham and others encouraged him to leave games early so that certain bets on player activity, like how many points he scored, would be successful.
Just before the January 26 game, the player informed Pham and the other defendants through a Telegram chat that he would leave the game early, claiming to be hurt. He played for less than five minutes in this game, according to the court document.
The player shared a similar message with the defendants ahead of the March 20 game, indicating that he would say he was sick. The court document says he played for three minutes in that game.
On April 4, in a group chat with the player, Pham and other defendants, the player wrote, "might just get hit w a rico" and asked if the group had cleared their phones of anything.
The FBI agent suspected that these messages referred to the player's concerns about a possible investigation into criminal activities related to violations of the RICO Act, and that he needed to delete any evidence on his personal cell phone.
Porter was banned by the NBA in mid-April, with the league reporting that their investigation had confirmed his violations of the gaming rules.
The NBA announced they had begun an investigation into strange betting patterns around Porter
In March, the NBA announced that they were conducting an investigation into suspicious betting patterns involving Porter.
Porter had "broken league rules by divulging confidential information to sports bettors, restricting his participation in one or more games for betting purposes, and betting on NBA games", the NBA declared.
When Porter's ban was publicized, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver commented, "there is nothing more crucial than safeguarding the integrity of NBA competition for our fans, our teams, and everyone connected to our sport. Jontay Porter's flagrant disregard for our gaming rules is deserving of the harshest punishment."
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The authorities mentioned that the suspect is part of the US, as they are from Brooklyn.
During the court proceedings, Pham's attorney, Michael Soshnick, represented him as a US citizen.
