Two additional individuals charged in betting scandal leading to lifetime ban for Raptors' Jontay Porter by NBA

NEW YORK — Two more men were charged Thursday in the sports betting scandal that prompted the NBA to ban former Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter for life.

Timothy McCormack and Mahmud Mollah now join two other men — Long Phi Pham and a fourth whose name remains redacted in a court complaint — as defendants in a federal wire fraud case about wagers allegedly based on tips from a player about his plans to exit two games early.

Prosecutors haven’t publicly named Porter in connection with the case, but game dates and other details about the “Player 1” mentioned in the court documents match up with Porter and his April banishment from the NBA. Brooklyn federal prosecutors have declined to comment on whether the former forward is under investigation.

Current contact information could not immediately be found for Porter or any agent or other representative he may have.

An NBA investigation found in April that he tipped off bettors about his health and then claimed illness to exit at least one game and make some wagers succeed. Porter also gambled on NBA games in which he didn’t play, once betting against his own team, the league said.

Prosecutors say McCormack, Mollah, Pham and the as-yet-unknown fourth defendant took part in a scheme to get “Player 1” to take himself off the court so that they could win bets against his performance.

And win they did, with Mollah’s bets on a March 20 game netting over $1.3 million, according to the complaint. It said Pham, the player and the unnamed defendant were each supposed to get about a quarter of those winnings, and McCormack a 4 per cent cut, before a betting company got suspicious and blocked Mollah from collecting most of the money.

McCormack also cleared more than $33,000 on a bet on a Jan. 26 game, the complaint said.

His attorney, Jeffrey Chartier, said Thursday that “no case is a slam-dunk.” He declined to comment on whether his client knows Porter.

Lawyers for Mollah and Pham have declined to comment on the allegations.

McCormack, 36, of New York, and Mollah, 24, of Lansdale, Pennsylvania, were granted $50,000 bond each after their arraignments Thursday. A judge agreed Wednesday to release Pham to home detention and electronic monitoring on $750,000 bond. The 38-year-old Brooklyn resident, who also uses the first name Bruce, remained in custody Thursday as paperwork and other details were finalized.

According to the complaint, “Player 1” amassed significant gambling debts by the beginning of 2024, and the unnamed defendant prodded him to clear his obligations by doing a “special” — their code for leaving certain games early to ensure the success of bets that he’d underperform expectations.

“If I don’t do a special with your terms. Then it’s up. And u hate me and if I don’t get u 8k by Friday you’re coming to Toronto to beat me up,” the player said in an encrypted message, according to the complaint.

It says he went on to tell the defendants that he planned to take himself out of the Jan. 26 game early, claiming injury.

Porter played four minutes and 24 seconds against the Los Angeles Clippers in that game before saying he had aggravated an eye problem. He’d scored no points, three rebounds and one assist, below what sportsbooks were expecting. That meant a payday for anyone who bet the “under.”

Then, the complaint said, the player told the defendants that he would exit the March 20 game by saying he was sick. Porter played two minutes and 43 seconds against the Sacramento Kings that day, finishing with no points or assists and two rebounds, again short of the betting line.

After the NBA and others began investigating, the player warned Pham, Mollah and the unnamed defendant via an encrypted messaging app that they “might just get hit w a rico” — an apparent reference to the common acronym for a federal racketeering charge — and asked whether they had deleted “all the stuff” from their phones, according to the complaint.

NBA players, coaches, referees and other team personnel are prohibited from betting on any of the league’s games or on events such as draft picks.

In banning Porter, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver called the forward’s actions “blatant.”

In a shocking turn of events, two more individuals have been charged in connection with a betting scandal that has rocked the NBA and led to a lifetime ban for Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter. The scandal, which first came to light last month, has sent shockwaves through the basketball world and raised questions about the integrity of the sport.

The two individuals, whose names have not been released, are believed to have been involved in a scheme to manipulate the outcome of games in order to profit from illegal betting. The NBA has been working closely with law enforcement officials to investigate the matter and ensure that those responsible are held accountable.

The scandal first came to light when it was revealed that Porter had been approached by individuals with ties to organized crime who attempted to persuade him to throw games in exchange for a large sum of money. Porter immediately reported the incident to league officials, who launched an investigation into the matter.

After a thorough investigation, the NBA determined that Porter had not participated in any illegal activities and was not involved in the betting scandal. However, the league did find evidence that two other individuals had been involved in attempting to manipulate the outcome of games for their own financial gain.

As a result of their involvement in the scandal, both individuals have been charged with conspiracy to commit fraud and face potential jail time if convicted. The NBA has also taken swift action against Porter, issuing him a lifetime ban from the league for his role in bringing the scandal to light.

The scandal has raised serious concerns about the potential for corruption in professional sports and has prompted calls for greater oversight and regulation of the betting industry. The NBA has vowed to take all necessary steps to protect the integrity of the game and ensure that incidents like this do not happen again in the future.

In the meantime, fans and players alike are left reeling from the fallout of this shocking scandal, which has cast a dark shadow over the sport they love. As the investigation continues and more details come to light, one thing is clear: the NBA is committed to rooting out corruption and ensuring that the game is played fairly and honestly.