Mafia-Linked NBA Gambling, Money-Laundering Indictments

The Justice Department's “Operation Royal Flush” produced indictments alleging a mafia-linked illegal gambling and money‑laundering ring that ran rigged high‑stakes poker games and related sports‑betting schemes, and led to arrests including Portland coach Chauncey Billups and Miami player Terry Rozier. Sources say Kevin Garnett attended a Los Angeles private game in 2019, believed it was an “afterparty,” left early, has not been charged and reportedly has not been contacted by federal authorities. Prosecutors allege the operation used present and former athletes as 'face cards' to draw players and then employed rigging, cheating devices, threats and intimidation when losers wouldn’t pay. Billups has denied the allegations through his lawyer and was released from federal custody. The revelations have provoked public reaction, including comparisons to the film Uncut Gems, and follow prior warnings from professional poker players about suspicious celebrity-run private games.