A purported sufferer of a Texas jeweler linked to the NBA dishonest ring says he and his poker buddies were scammed out of practically $1 million in a single evening — but that the fraudsters used an ex-NFL player, not a basketball star, as their entrance man.
The gorgeous claim could imply that the exploding NBA playing scandal could be much larger than prosecutors have thus far revealed, and might embrace stars in other sports activities.
“During the game, we were around a bunch of bad guys, and they were trying to suck every bit away from us. And they did. They did a good job, and I’m still shell-shocked to this day from that night,” a supply, who did not need to be named, advised The Post.
Prosecutors announced the arrest of 31 folks this week in connection with a sprawling poker rip-off led by the mob. FBI Director Kash Patel and prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney’s Office Eastern District of New York maintain a briefing after Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups and Miami Heat guard Terry
He said he was invited to the personal, high-stakes poker sport “with a really solid group of people. We would never have been there if not for the professional athlete.”
He refused to title the athlete, but indicated it was a former NFL player.
Until now, the scandal has revolved around NBA gamers and a coach.
Two professional basketball gamers were named by prosecutors in the sprawling poker case, which alleges that fraudsters and mobsters allegedly mounted big-money video games utilizing subtle dishonest tech like rigged X-ray card tables, crooked card shufflers, and particular glasses and contact lenses that could spy marked playing cards, according to an indictment unsealed Thursday in Brooklyn federal courtroom.
Basketball Hall of Famer Chauncey Billups and former NBA player Damon Jones were named.
The fixers called their deep-pocketed victims “fish,” while the high-profile athletes who lured them to the tables were called “face cards.”
Chauncey Billups, left, was allegedly paid as a “face card” to entice large cash gamers. Obtained by NYPost
The nameless fish could not say if his fleecing was half of the same poker ring probed by the feds — but he did finger at least one man concerned in both.
He said Curtis Meeks of Texas — who was named in the Thursday indictment as a main provider of the dishonest machines to the scammers — was a major participant in the rigged sport that bilked him and his buddies out of practically $1 million in a single evening.
“Meeks is the most despicable human I’ve ever been around in my entire life,” the man said.
“The level he will go to get other people’s money is just disgusting. I’ve since found out that what he’s done to us, he’s done to many other people. This was not a freak occurrence,” the alleged sufferer said.
The sufferer described Curtis Meeks as “the most despicable human I’ve ever been around in my entire life.” Williamson County Sheriff’s Office
Prosecutors did not go into nice element regarding Meeks. According to a playing world insider, “Meeks supposedly was an amateur boxer. He went around telling people that he’s a jeweler. That was his schtick.”
He and 30 others were arrested in connection to the huge poker ring, an indictment that also named a slew of mob associates who have beforehand made headlines — including Thomas “Tommy Juice” Gelardo, who allegedly collected playing money owed with threats and intimidation; and Nicholas “Fat Nick” Minucci, a Gambino crime household affiliate who was convicted of beating a black child with a baseball bat while shouting the N-word in 2005.
An legal professional for Meeks was not listed, and his household could not be reached for remark.
On the evening Meeks allegedly took the Post supply for a journey, he used a retired NFL athlete to lure the group into a state of affairs they realized was sketchy from the get-go, but it wasn’t until they were in the midst of the sport did they understand they were being scammed.
The skilled jock was to join a sport deliberate at a public location, but the venue was abruptly modified to his high-rise residence, the man said.
The group allegedly used rigged X-ray card tables, card shufflers and particular glasses and contact lenses. US Attorney / EDNY
There was a collection of other pink flags, the alleged sufferer said, including that once inside the residence, the host raised the buy-in from $10,000 to $20,000 — which means the victims would lose more cash quicker. They didn’t trade money to get in the sport, but were given chips on a credit score foundation — payable afterwards.
And all the profitable arms went “to the four guys who were in on the scam,” he claimed.
“Those guys cheated with a device, and they cheated me and cheated other people who were good people. And they used a star athlete. They used the star to do it. They had us excited. The only reason they were able to pull this off was because they had a professional athlete in place,” the supply said.
“We knew that it was a device because of how they would push. It wasn’t like a thing where they could see the backs of cards. It was like, let’s go all in before any cards even come out.”
One of the man’s mates acknowledged the rip-off and called out the group before leaving the residence, but the mobsters adopted up with weeks and weeks of relentless calls for that they pay up.
“They wouldn’t let up in trying to get their money. It got scarier and scarier. Serious threats were made. Ultimately, we just agreed to pay them,” the sufferer defined.
The incident carefully resembles the plot laid out by federal prosecutors this month, though the 31-defendant indictment does not point out any NFL gamers or athletes from other sports activities leagues.
Neither the NFL nor the Eastern District of New York instantly responded to The Post’s request for remark.
A second NBA-related indictment this week includes an unlawful sports activities playing ring that positioned bets on video games utilizing insider info about the Los Angeles Lakers, Toronto Raptors, Charlotte Hornets and Portland Trail Blazers and their gamers.
While the poker rip-off value the sufferer and his mates practically $1 million, the man says the actual worth was his “trust for the game.”
“Moving forward is the real punishment. Because there’s a paranoia now. There’s a constant turn in my mind: Something is happening. Considering how sophisticated AI has been and how sophisticated they are, that’s scary to me. I’ve been around so long, playing poker, and I am fine with losing, but I have no tolerance for cheating,” he said.
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