A 38-year-old man named Long Phi Pham was arrested at JFK Airport in New York earlier this week as he attempted to flee the country before law enforcement could detain him. Pham is one of four defendants in a point-shaving scandal that got former Toronto Raptors forward, Jontay Porter, a lifetime ban from the league.
No Fly Zone
A criminal complaint issued by Breon Peace, the U.S. Attorney of the Eastern District of New York, and James Smith, Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Field Office of the FBI, announced that Long Phi “Bruce” Pham was arrested shortly before he was to board a plane to Australia. According to reports, Pham was carrying $12,000 in cash and had two checks totaling $80,000.
The arrest occurred on Monday and Pham was arraigned the following day where a federal magistrate detained him until his trial. Three other co-defendants are still at large but former NBA forward, Jontay Porter, is not one of them and has yet to be indicted.
“Whether on the court or in the casino, every point matters. As alleged, the defendant and his co-conspirators, as well as an NBA player, participated in a brazen, illegal betting scheme that had a corrupting influence on two games and numerous bets,” stated United States Attorney Peace. “This prosecution serves as a warning that fraud and dishonesty in professional sports will not be tolerated and those who engage in this flagrant flouting of the law will be prosecuted.”
Flagrant Foul
The scheme to defraud licensed U.S. sportsbooks began when Jontay Porter, a member of the Toronto Raptors, cooked up a scam with several accomplices to pull himself out of NBA games so that those betting under the posted total on Porter’s player props would win their wagers.
The conspiracy was triggered due to Porter amassing a large gambling debt, which he intended to work off when he told his co-conspirators he intended to remove himself early from the game against the L.A. Clippers on January 26th. And he did precisely that, telling team officials he had reaggravated an eye injury suffered several days earlier and would have to leave the game.
Any bettor who wagered under on Porter’s player props like points scored, assists, rebounds, or any number of other performance-based player props won their wagers after Porter left with zero points, one assist, and three rebounds. One co-conspirator hit a $7000 parlay consisting of four legs of under bets on Porter’s performance, netting $40,250. A relative of a co-conspirator got in on the action to the tune of a $75,000 windfall after betting under on Porter’s assists, 3-pointers, and steals.
Rebound and Regret
A second instance occurred on March 20th in a game against the Kings in which Porter bowed out early in that one as well, netting the co-conspirators over $1 million after Porter played only three minutes and scored no points or assists with only three rebounds before claiming he was feeling ill and could not continue.
However, the plan began to unravel after an industry watchdog that works with the NBA and several domestic sportsbooks, U.S. Integrity, investigated both games due to overly large sums wagered on those props, which led them to classify both as suspicious betting activity. This triggered a league investigation and ultimately found Porter culpable, leading to his lifetime ban from the NBA.
