illegal sports betting

October 31, 2024

Bettor who stood to win $1 million in Jontay Porter betting scam pleads guilty

On Wednesday (30 October) Mahmud Mollah became the third person in the Jontay Porter sports betting scandal to plead guilty to wire fraud conspiracy.

Mollah is the gambler who placed bets that would have won $1 million (£776,609/€920,850) on the performance of then two-way NBA player Jontay Porter. Porter, who was playing for the Toronto Raptors on a 10-day contract, removed himself early from games on 26 January and 20 March so he and the gamblers could win “under” bets.

Earlier this month, NBA betting partners, including BetMGM, DraftKings and FanDuel, announced they would stop taking bets on the league’s lowest-paid players, according to The Athletic. No “under” bets will be available on two-way players or players on 10-day contracts. Porter was set to earn $56,000 from his short-term contract with the Raptors and the NBA believes these players are most at risk for being corrupted by bettors.

Mollah pleaded in the the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York. Port..

October 29, 2024

Jontay Porter effect could be just the beginning of banning bets

Major sportsbooks have done away with certain NBA player props and the potential ramifications go far beyond that.

Jontay Porter is unlikely to ever take the court for an NBA team again.

Still, this player with a career average of 11.2 minutes per game is a central figure in one of the league’s biggest storylines of the new season.

A number of national sportsbooks such as BetMGM, Caesars, DraftKings, ESPN Bet and FanDuel won’t be posting NBA player prop unders for those on 10-day or two-way contracts. The rationale? These players have less financial security than those under contract for the season. Because of that they could be enticed to purposely tank their performances.

Call this the Jontay Porter effect.

Porter did exactly this – exiting games early due to supposed injury or illness, ensuring under bets on his props would win – a season ago as a member of the Toronto Raptors. This scheme led him to plead guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud. He was also banned for life f..

October 3, 2024

Jontay Porter co-conspirator pleads guilty

Former professional poker player Long Phi Pham, who conspired with ex-NBA player Jontay Porter and two others in a sports betting scam, on Wednesday (2 October) agreed to plead guilty to one charge of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
Pham appeared in the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York. He was released on a bond of $750,000 (£571,450/ €680,062) and will be sentenced 25 April 2025. Pham, Jontay Porter and two others were set to win more than $1m total after the Toronto Raptors player agreed to remove himself early from two games earlier this year. But DraftKings flagged the outsized player-prop bets, and an investigation ensued.

NBA commissioner Adam Silver in April banned Porter for life. Three months later, he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud in July and is awaiting sentencing. Federal prosecutors recommended a sentence of 41-51 months in jail. Porter was released on $250,000 bond and his sentencing is set for 18 December.

Porter’s brother, ..

August 9, 2024

Bowyer pleads guilty; sentencing for US illegal bookie set for February

Mathew Bowyer, who ran an illegal bookmaking business for at least five years in California, pleaded guilty on Friday (9 August) to three federal charges. Bowyer had more than 700 customers, including former Shohei Ohtani interpreter Ippei Mizuhara.
Bowyer told Judge John W Holcomb, “I was running an illegal gambling operation, laundering money through other people’s bank accounts.” The hearing was held at the Ronald Reagan Federal Building and US Courthouse in Santa Ana, California.

That is the same location at which Mizuhara pleaded guilty to stealing $17m from Ohtani to bet with Bowyer. Mizuhara faces up to 33 years in prison and is set to be sentenced in October.

Shohei Ohtani’s former interpreter Ippei Mizuhara faces up to 33 years in prison. Photo by Jill R Dorson
Holcomb set Bowyer’s sentencing for 7 February 2025. He faces a maximum of 18 years in prison and three years of probation. He could be fined $750,000 or two times the “gross gain or gross loss resulting from the of..

August 5, 2024

Bowyer allegedly had 700+ illegal betting customers, washed money through Las Vegas and California casinos

Court documents reveal that alleged illegal bookmaker Mathew Bowyer had more than 700 customers, washed money through multiple casinos and used Costa-Rican betting websites in his business.
On 1 August, Bowyer was charged on three counts. He is accused of running an illegal bookmaking scheme, laundering money and filing a false tax return. Bowyer, according to court documents, will plead guilty Friday before Judge John W Holcomb at the Ronald Reagan Federal Building and United States Courthouse in Santa Ana, California.

Bowyer’s business was based out of Orange and Los Angeles counties in California and Clark County in Las Vegas. Sports betting is illegal in California.

Bowyer faces a maximum sentence of 18 years in prison and three years of probation. He could be fined $750,000 or two times the “gross gain or gross loss resulting from the offences” – whichever is higher.

Mizuhara, two pro ballplayers linked to Bowyer
According to the court documents, it is unclear when Bowyer sta..

August 2, 2024

Mizuhara bookie Mathew Bowyer charged in illegal California wagering ring, set to plead guilty

Mathew Bowyer, an illegal bookmaker with deep connections to Las Vegas’ gambling scene, is set to plead guilty in a high-profile betting case involving a former interpreter for Major League Baseball superstar Shohei Ohtani.
Bowyer is charged with multiple counts of illegal gambling activities. Among these charges are running an unlicensed sportsbook, filing a false tax return and money laundering. According to a US department of justice notice, federal prosecutors have outlined a case demonstrating that Bowyer facilitated and profited from a large-scale illegal sports betting ring, which implicated various figures in the sports world.

The illegal southern California wagering ring involved high-profile clients, including athletes and executives.

Most notable among those figures was Ohtani’s former interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara. He pleaded guilty in June to bank fraud and filing a false tax return. He has to return to court in October for sentencing.

If convicted, Bowyer could face up ..

July 17, 2024

Judge denies Jontay Porter’s request for his passport so he can play pro ball in Greece

On Tuesday (16 July), banned NBA player Jontay Porter filed a motion to get his passport back before sentencing in an NBA sports betting scandal, so he can play basketball in Greece. A district court judge denied the motion.

The motion, filed by Porter in the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York, included four requests:

1. for Jontay Porter to get his passport back;

2. to travel to and around Europe;

3. to live in Patras, Greece; and

4. to play pro basketball in Patras, Greece.

Porter last week pleaded guilty to felony charges and admitted to being part of a gambling scandal in which he removed himself from two NBA games so others could win their bets. Four others have been charged in the scandal.

Porter is set to be sentenced in December. Federal prosecutors are recommending that he serve 41-51 months in prison. He’ll also have to pay more than $450,000 in fines and fees.

Porter was released on $250,000 bond put up by his wife and mother.

Jontay Porte..

July 10, 2024

Ex-NBA player Jontay Porter pleads guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud

On Wednesday (10 July) former Toronto Raptor Jontay Porter turned himself in to federal authorities and pleaded guilty to a conspiracy to commit wire fraud in a sports betting scandal that involves four others. Porter entered his plea at the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York.

Federal prosecutors recommended 41-51 months in prison and Porter will have to pay more than $450,000 in fines and fees. According to the New York Post, Porter was released on $250,000 bond put up by his wife and mother.

NBA commissioner Adam Silver banned Porter from the league for life in April, several weeks after news broke that he may have violated league wagering rules. Porter tampered with two games so that his co-conspirators could win “under” prop bets. NBA players are allowed to gamble, but are forbidden from betting on basketball and from fixing games. Porter is the only NBA player to be banned or suspended for betting since PASPA was overturned in 2018.

According to a federal ..

July 3, 2024

US DoJ preps to criminally charge Porter with felony in illegal gambling scheme

Federal prosecutors in New York are preparing to charge Jontay Porter for his involvement in the illegal betting scandal that got him banned from the NBA. Porter's name appeared on a federal court docket on Wednesday (3 July), reports the New York Daily News.

Court papers were not immediately available but, according to the Daily News, the US Department of Justice (DoJ) will seek felony charges. Porter is accused of game fixing in an illegal gambling scheme. Four others have been arrested and arraigned for conspiracy to commit wire fraud in the case.

The Daily News wrote that Porter will likely be charged “through an ‘information’ document instead of an indictment, which typically happens when a suspect plans to plead guilty to the charges at the case’s onset”.

Porter allegedly removed himself from two Toronto Raptors games to allow bettors to win on “under” prop bets. DraftKings reported suspicious activity to the NBA after games on 26 January and 22 March. The four arrested..

June 20, 2024

Ontario police open Jontay Porter criminal investigation

On Tuesday (18 June) a representative for Ontario's Provincial Police told ESPN that it has opened a criminal investigation into former Toronto Raptor Jontay Porter.

NBA commissioner Adam Silver in April issued Jontay Porter a lifetime ban from the league for betting on his own team and sharing personal information with bettors.

According to ESPN, the OPP Investigation and Enforcement Bureau will coordinate with US federal authorities, who are also investigating wrongdoing surrounding two NBA games. Porter took himself out of games on 26 January and 22 March. According to a federal affidavit, Porter allegedly left the games early at the behest of of Ammar Awawdeh.

“Screenshot this … Me ammar awawdeh born 7/23/91 is forcing [Player 1] to do this,” reads a text in the affidavit. Porter allegedly replied with: “If I don’t do a special with your terms. Then it’s up. And u hate me and if I don’t get you 8k by Friday you’re coming to Toronto to beat me up.”

Porter is not identifie..

June 20, 2024

Yield Sec projections: Illegal market still has strong hold on US gamblers

Using predictive analytics, Yield Sec earlier this month released a special report projecting that, even as legal sports betting proliferates across the US, the black market still dominates. According to the report, the black market made up 65% of all wagering GGR in the US.

In 2023, according to the report, of the predicted total $29.5bn GGR in the US, $10.4bn was from legal operators.

Yield Sec further broke down the numbers and determined that 15% of all legal US GGR came from basketball, 10% from football and 6% from baseball.

Parlays ruled US betting in 2023, making up 54% ($15.9bn) of GGR. A company spokesperson said that while operator data may show that football is the most-bet sport in the US, many of those bets are parlays, which show up as “parlays” rather than “football” in Yield Sec data.

The report is titled “How America Bets Online” and only includes data related to online or digital gambling.

Yield Sec, a market intelligence platform, uses AI to trawl the web f..

June 12, 2024

State regulators tell illegal gambling operator to back off or face legal action

Bovada is one of – if not the – leading black-market sports betting operators taking wagers in the US. Already banned in five states, regulators in Michigan and Connecticut are now taking aim at keeping the platform out of their markets.

Since the US Supreme Court overturned the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) in 2018, a key goal for legal US stakeholders is stamping out the black market.

The federal government in 2011 had success in taking down the original Poker Stars, which was operating illegally in the US. The same year, the DoJ settled with Laura Varela and Costa Rican sportsbook 5Dimes, which also operated in the US.

But since then, there has been seemingly little activity in relation to keeping illegal gambling operators out of the American market. In May the Michigan Gaming Control Board (MGCB) became the first US regulator to send a cease-and-desist letter to an offshore operator.

“Bovada, you are out!”

On 29 May, the MGCB gave Curaçao-based Bo..

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Tag: illegal sports betting