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U.S. Sanctions Russia's Two Largest Oil Companies; NBA's Rozier, Billups, Jones Arrested in Gambling Probe; U.S. Secretary of State to Meet Israeli Officials in Jerusalem; FBI Gives Details about Sports Gambling Probe; Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy Holds News Conference in Brussels. Aired 10-11a ET
Aired October 23, 2025 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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BECKY ANDERSON, CNN HOST (voice-over): Welcome to the second hour of the show from -- excuse me -- our Middle East programming headquarters. I'm
Becky Anderson with a frog in my throat in Abu Dhabi, where the time is just after 6 in the evening.
New sanctions against Russia; is president Trump finally losing patience with Vladimir Putin?
Different oceans, same deadly result; the Pentagon strikes what it calls narco boats in the Pacific. This time, as the war on drugs widens.
And breaking news; law enforcement officials tell CNN an NBA coach and player are among those arrested in an investigation into sports gambling.
We expect to learn more from a news conference this hour.
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ANDERSON: We are waiting for Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy to speak to the media in Brussels this hour. E.U. leaders have been discussing
more ways to help Kyiv. They've already approved their 19th package of sanctions on Russia. That's on the heels of Donald Trump placing sanctions
on Russia's two biggest oil companies.
The president pushing for an immediate ceasefire in Moscow's war against Ukraine. Well, the new sanctions are seen as a major shift in Trump's
approach. They are also a coup for Kyiv.
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VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: I think that, of course, it's more tough sanctions on Russia; 19th package is very important. And of
European leaders of E.U. But American sanctions are also very important. This is a good signal to other countries in the world to join the
sanctions, you know, that not only energy we need --
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ANDERSON: Well, CNN's Clare Sebastian tracking all of this from London.
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CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We've seen so far from the Trump administration an approach that focused only really on incentives for
Russia.
Restarting diplomatic dialogue, the summit in Alaska with all the optics, the ending of that chapter of isolation of Russia at the hands of the West.
Even in many cases, we've seen White House officials essentially parroting Kremlin talking points. So there's been a lot of incentives for Russia,
very little in terms of pressure, until now.
And these sanctions are big, right?
Rosneft and Lukoil are the biggest oil producers in Russia. Even the Biden Administration stopped short of sanctioning them in their final package
before Biden left office in January.
He hit the next biggest, the third and fourth biggest oil producers in Russia with sanctions. So Trump has gone one step further here. So I think
it is a major turnaround, how impactful it will be. And what this means to Ukraine, I think it's still not quite clear.
Initially, of course, this means a little extra hope for Ukraine, the idea that the White House has realized that that approach of incentives only has
not worked and will now, you know, possibly, if this isn't just a knee-jerk reaction, start to ramp up the pressure in a more sustained way.
And I think, look, there's no evidence at this point that this is going to lead to an instant turnaround by Vladimir Putin to say, look, fine. I'll go
for a ceasefire. I think what Ukraine will be looking for is to the extent to which this slows down the Russian war machine, the extent to which it
eats into Russia's oil revenues.
And that will depend on how much the U.S. is willing to enforce this. That takes a lot of hard work. It will depend on the extent to which Moscow can
find workarounds, as we've seen them do so effectively so far in this war. And it will depend on whether the U.S. is willing to go further.
The announcement of the Treasury came with an explicit mention of the possibility for secondary sanctions that would make it, of course, much
harder for Russia to find workarounds. And, of course, India is a big wild card here. We're hearing stirrings, noises that they could be cutting back
on Russian oil purchases.
They were probably already doing that as a result of their trade talks with the U.S. and secondary sanctions that have come in. So that is something
that experts are watching very closely today, Becky.
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ANDERSON: Well, Orysia Lutsevych is head of the Ukraine forum at Chatham House. She joins us now.
And it's good to have you on. This is certainly a moment, the first time since returning to the White House that the Trump administration has put
sanctions on Russia.
Where does this leave Ukraine and indeed Russia at this point, to your mind?
ORYSIA LUTSEVYCH, CHATHAM HOUSE: Well, I think it's a very significant and positive development for Ukraine, clearly, because president Zelenskyy was
trying to suggest that Trump pursues the U.S. attitude to Russia as peace through strength.
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Rather than peace through appeasement and rolling that red carpet in Anchorage for Putin.
So here, president Trump has clearly demonstrated that Russia is not willing to negotiate and that he is willing to exert some pressure. So
that's good news. That is good news also, because Russia relies heavily in its budget on oil and gas revenues. So that will start diminishing.
But also it will put additional pressure on the stability of Putin's regime that relies heavily on rents for loyalty, for payments and for the elite
cohesion that Putin needs in order to keep stability. It's payments and it's fear.
ANDERSON: Right. Some Kremlin watchers are suggesting that sanctions are very unlikely to bring Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table.
Is -- do you -- do you agree with that?
And is that because they still don't go far enough to target entities underpinning the Russian economy?
What is your view at this point?
LUTSEVYCH: Well, I agree with those who say it will be very difficult to bring Putin to a negotiating table because he is committed to subjugating,
destroying Ukraine and to pushing, for the same matter, United States out of Europe.
So what will happen with these sanctions that they will cripple Russian capacity to wage war?
They will still have an intent. Putin and his cronies will still want to wage war. But they will have less and less resources to do so, financial.
And that also means human because, let's remember, so far, Russians are not mobilizing its total population.
They are recruiting on a paid basis for quite lavish bonuses and payments. And that again requires finance. Russia needs foreign exchange, right, to
operate, to purchase parts for its military, to subvert sanctions through international markets. And all of that will be drying out. So it will slow
Russian war machine.
But let's also recall Ukrainian strikes deep into Russian oil refineries because, together with sanctions, these measures can actually put the whole
Russian oil and gas industry in serious trouble and in a big -- under a big strain.
ANDERSON: Orysia Lutsevych, it is good to have you. You're head of the Ukraine forum at Chatham House. Your insight and analysis extremely
important to us. Thank you.
I want to get to some breaking news on a massive sports gambling investigation in the United States. We are monitoring an FBI news
conference, which is underway right now in New York.
Law enforcement officials tell CNN, the Miami Heat guard, Terry Rozier, and Portland Trail Blazers head coach, Chauncey Billups, have been arrested in
connection with that probe.
Also being charged, former Cleveland Cavaliers player Damon Jones. And these are not small names, believe me. CNN's Kara Scannell has the very
latest from New York.
This news conference will be starting momentarily.
What have you learned about this investigation so far?
And just talk to us about the individuals involved.
KARA SCANNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Becky. As you said, these are names that are known within the NBA. You know, former All-Stars. Chauncey
Billups, he is someone who has had a storied career and he is the current head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers.
All three of those men were arrested this morning as part of sports betting investigation. And law enforcement officials tell us that there are two
pieces to this.
One piece involving Terry Rozier involves -- know him, feeding information about who was playing in certain games, who would be on the injured --
injury list and even an allegation that he himself faked an injury nine minutes into a game, all to benefit people that were betting on the game.
So that is one aspect of this investigation.
And then law enforcement officials tell us that there is a second piece of it that involves Billups. And according to law enforcement officials, this
was a Mafia-run organized crime about poker match, poker games that were taking place in Manhattan, in Las Vegas, in The Hamptons and in Miami.
And according to law enforcement officials, in that match, which involved members of the New York Mafia, three of the Five Families -- the Bonanno
family, the Genovese family and the Gravano family -- that they were having Billups appear at these games, that he was used a bit as a distraction to
some of the other players.
And they had very high-tech, sophisticated systems that they were using in order to allegedly rig these games.
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Now our understanding, according to law enforcement, is that these men all financially benefited from their participation in these two distinct sports
betting operations. But much more detail will come out once this press conference gets underway and once the charging documents are made public in
the case.
I did hear from a lawyer for Terry Rozier and he said that this was based on uncredible (sic) sources. And he said Terry is not a gambler but he is
not afraid of a fight. And he looks forward to winning this fight. Of course, more details to come when this does all become public. Becky.
ANDERSON: Yes, absolutely. And our viewers will get those details here first on CNN. Kara, for the time being, thank you very much indeed.
Well, you are watching CONNECT THE WORLD with me, Becky Anderson, live from our Middle East programming headquarters here in Abu Dhabi. Time is just
after 6:10 in the evening here. A lot more news is ahead. Stay with us.
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ANDERSON: We are expecting U.S. secretary of state Marco Rubio to touch down in Israel any time now to meet with Israeli defense officials. The
Americans do seem to be keeping a near-constant presence as Washington tries to ensure that the Gaza ceasefire deal does not fall apart and that
this next phase, post the ceasefire, can be put in place.
Rubio arriving just hours after vice president JD Vance, seen here, wrapped up his own trip to Israel. CNN Jerusalem correspondent Jeremy Diamond back
with us this hour.
All right. Well, let's just work out what happened while we had JD Vance in Israel and what is likely to happen next with Rubio, likely to land anytime
soon.
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, the vice president seemed to say that a lot of his focus while he was on the ground here was
about preparing for the next phases of this ceasefire but also, of course, holding it together and ensuring that this ceasefire remains in place in
order to get to those next phases.
He talked about working on the composition of this international stabilization force, which Arab and Muslim countries would be part of that
force, what the relationship would be with the U.S. military, which it seems would be responsible for overseeing that force from afar, and
coordinating its activities.
He also gave the first timeline that we've heard so far for the potential reconstruction of parts of the Gaza Strip, saying that he anticipated that
Palestinians in Gaza would be able to start moving into certain areas in southern Gaza that would be rebuilt within a matter of months.
He said, over the course of the next two to three years, he believed that the southern city of Rafah, which has been obliterated by the Israeli
military over the course of this war, could be rebuilt and have about a half a million people living there. That's the first time that we've heard
any kind of timeline from him.
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ANDERSON: Jeremy --
DIAMOND: But he also made clear that at the -- yes. Go ahead.
ANDERSON: Yes. Sorry. I'm just going to stop you because we have actually got Rubio on the ground. He's talking to the U.S. ambassador, Mike
Huckabee. So he's arrived. That is a image from Tel Aviv. Of course. Carry on.
DIAMOND: Yes.
And the secretary of state will be continuing a lot of that work that the vice president has been doing here and also working on another part of what
vice president Vance talked about, which was sending this message to the Israelis, that the United States is committed to the ceasefire, wants it to
last.
And wants to ensure that, should we see similar incidents like we saw on Sunday, when two Israeli soldiers were killed, potentially by rogue Hamas
forces.
As the vice president suggested while he was here on the ground, that that doesn't lead to the Israelis returning to all-out war in Gaza, as some far-
right members of this government have urged the Israeli prime minister to do.
Another interesting note, as he was on his way out, the vice president also said that he was insulted by this --
ANDERSON: OK, Jeremy --
DIAMOND: -- in the Israeli Knesset.
ANDERSON: Yes. And I'm going to wrap it up. Thank you. I think we got the -- more than the gist of your narrative there and I thank you for that. I
want to get us back to the States, Jeremy, now because Kash Patel is speaking now, the head of the FBI, on this huge gambling probe involving 11
states and 30 people, as we understand it.
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KASH PATEL, DIRECTOR, U.S. FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION: This is an operation that showcases to you that, under President Trump's
administration, there is no room for any type of criminal behavior, be it on the world's largest stage or in the back rooms of tiny parlors, where
guard games are being played.
We are proud to stand here today with the men and women of the FBI and this legal team.
And to the United States attorney, I just want to thank you personally for taking the time to display the work that the media's about to hear about
today in detail.
As I said, it does take courageous prosecutors but it takes a courageous United States attorney to bring this case because we are going to take heat
for it. But we don't shy away in this administration. We don't say no.
What we do is we bring the results across the finish line. We bring them to the public, we bring you accountability and, yes, they will have their day
in court and you will hear the evidence through the court system exclusively. We will not deny anyone of due process.
And that's the brilliance of this system. That's the brilliance of this administration. Everyone will be held to account.
So with that, I turned it over to United States Attorney Nocella. Thank you.
JOSEPH NOCELLA JR., U.S. ATTORNEY, EASTERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK: Thank you, Director Patel.
To be clear, we're announcing today indictments in two major cases, both involving fraud, one involves sports betting and the other involves illegal
gambling, very specifically rigged poker games.
The first indictment involves six defendants who are alleged to have participated in one of the most brazen sports corruption schemes since
online sports betting became widely legalized in the United States.
This scheme is an insider sports betting conspiracy that exploited confidential information about National Basketball Association athletes and
teams.
The second indictment involves 31 defendants alleged to have participated in a nationwide scheme to rig illegal poker games. These defendants, which
include former professional athletes, use high-tech cheating technology to steal millions of dollars from victims in underground poker games that were
secretly fixed.
The games in the New York area were backed by the Bonanno, Gambino and Genovese crime families of La Cosa Nostra. While the cases are separate,
there are three overlapping defendants charged in both cases, Damon Jones, Eric Earnest and Shane Hennen.
The indictments in these cases contain only allegations and the defendants are presumed innocent until they are proven guilty in a court of law. But
my message to the defendants who've been rounded up today is this. Your winning streak has ended. Your luck has run out. Violating the law is a
losing proposition and you can bet on that.
First, I would like to talk about United States v. Earnest et al., the NBA basketball gambling case.
The defendants in this case are Eric Earnest, Marves Fairley, Shane Hennen, De'Niro Laster, Damon Jones, a former NBA player and coach, and Terry
Rozier, a current NBA player.
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Other coconspirators were previously charged for their roles in the scheme, including former NBA player Jontay Porter.
Between December 2022 and March 2024, these defendants perpetrated a scheme to defraud by betting on inside non-public information about NBA athletes
and teams.
The non-public information included when specific players would be sitting out future games or when they would pull themselves out early for purported
injuries or illnesses. They relied on corrupt individuals, including Jones and Rozier.
They also misused information to obtained through longstanding friendships that they had with NBA players and coaches. And in at least one instance,
they got their information by threatening a current player, Porter, because of his preexisting gambling bets.
Defendants used this non-public information to place hundreds of thousands of in fraudulent bets, mostly in the form of prop bets on individual
player performance. The bets were placed through online sports books and also in-person at casinos.
The defendants relied on a network of straw betters to place the maximum amount of bets to increase their potential profits.
Most of these bets succeeded and the intended losses were in the millions of dollars. The defendants then laundered their illegal winnings in various
ways, peer-to-peer platforms, bank wires and simple cash exchanges.
The indictment details specific examples where the defendants profited from illegal gambling and illegal betting on various NBA games about the
performance of players on, among other things, the Charlotte Hornets, the Portland Trailblazers, the Los Angeles Lakers and the Toronto Rangers.
Each defendant in the NBA basketball gambling case has been charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
Now I would like to turn to the other case, United States v. Aiello, the rigged poker game case beginning as early as 2019. The defendants in this
case orchestrated a scheme to use wireless cheating technology to run rigged poker games across the United States, including in The Hamptons, Las
Vegas, Miami and Manhattan.
The scheme targeted victims known as, quote, "fish," who were often lured to participate in these rigged games by the chance to play alongside former
professional athletes, who were known as, quote, "face cards."
The so-called "face cards" included the defendant, Chauncey Billups, who, at the time of the scheme was a former NBA player and is currently the head
coach of the Portland Trailblazers, and also Damon Jones, a former NBA player and coach.
What the victims, the "fish," didn't know is that everybody else at the poker game, from the dealer to the players, including the "face cards,"
were in on the scam. Once the game was underway, the defendants fleeced the victims out of tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars per game.
The defendants used a variety of very sophisticated cheating technologies, some of which were provided by other defendants in exchange for a share of
the profits from the scheme.
For example, they used off-the-shelf shuffling machines that had been secretly altered in order to read the cards in the deck, predict which
player at the table had the best poker hand and relay that information to an offsite operator.
The offsite operator sent the information via cell phone back to a co- conspirator at the table and that person at the table was known as the quarterback. The quarterback then signaled secretly the information he had
received from others at -- to others at the table.
And together, they used that information in order to win their games and to cheat the victims. Defendants used other cheating ,technologies such as
poker chip tray analyzers, which is a poker chip tray that secretly reads cards using a hidden camera.
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Special contact lenses or eyeglasses that could read pre-marked cards and an X-ray table that could read cards face down on the table.
What you see depicted on a screen right now is an example of the X-ray table that reveals the cards. Although they are face down on the table,
they can be read because of the X-ray technology.
The Mafia, specifically members and associates of the Bonanno, Gambino and Genovese organized crime families, had preexisting control over non-rigged
illegal poker games around New York City.
As a result, they also became involved in the rigged poker games, helping to organize the games and taking a cut of the proceedings and working to
enforce the collection of debts.
The defendants laundered their proceeds, including through cash exchanges, the use of multiple shell companies and through cryptocurrency transfers.
As part of the scheme, some of the defendants and their co-conspirators also committed acts of violence, including the gunpoint robbery of a person
in order to obtain a rigged shuffling machine and extortions that were perpetrated against victims in order to ensure that they repaid their
gambling debts.
Defendants who participated in the rigged poker scheme are charged with wire fraud conspiracy. Other defendants have been charged with crimes
including illegal gambling, money laundering, Hobbs Act robbery and extortions.
This case demonstrates our office's unrelenting commitment to fighting the scourge of organized crime in whatever form it takes.
I'd like to conclude my remarks by thanking the incredible hard work of our law enforcement partners, including the FBI, Homeland Security, the NYPD
and the Waterfront Commission.
I also want to thank the dedicated prosecutors who built these two cases and who are standing to my right, Benjamin Weintraub, David Bourbon,
Caitlin Farrell, Michael Gibaldi, Irisa Chen and Sean Sherman.
They had the assistance of paralegal specialists Liam McNett, John Schneider, Marli Bosler. Also deserving of our thanks because of their
outstanding investigative work on the NBA case are FBI Special Agents Russell Lantier, Dominic Mariani, Amy GioRosa (ph), Shane Wilkins, and
Supervisory Special Agent Luke Cardison.
On the rigged-poker-game scheme, outstanding work was performed by FBI Special Agents Thomas Cribbin, Jeff Briola, Jonathan Corona, Alexander
Silverman, Amy Campanro, and Supervisory Special Agent Michael Maahy, as well as NYPD Task Officer James McCullough.
And from Homeland Security, Supervisory Special Agent Charles Freund; and from the Waterfront Commission, Detective Paul Shimborske.
Finally, I want to note that the investigations in both cases are ongoing and we encourage anyone with information about either scheme to please
contact the FBI.
Now I would like to turn the podium over to Special Agent in Charge of the New York Field office, I should say, the assistant director in charge of
the New York Field Office of the FBI, Christopher Raia -- Chris.
CHRISTOPHER RAIA, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR IN CHARGE, FBI NEW YORK: All right. Thank you, Joe. As always, we appreciate the partnership here. We can't do
any of this without you and your team, so thank you.
Also, I want to publicly thank the director for coming down from D.C. The director's a very busy person. And for him to come down should tell you the
importance of this historic case.
I'm Christopher Raia, the assistant director in charge of the FBI New York Field Office. Today, as you've heard, our office conducted a massive
nationwide takedown from two indictments of 34 defendants for their alleged involvement in two separate illegal poker and sports betting schemes,
where, as you heard, the odds were rigged in their favor.
Among these defendants are 13 members and associates of the Bonanno, Gambino and Genovese crime families, to include capos and soldiers from
these families. Additionally, as you heard, current and former NBA coaches and players are also implicated.
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To include Chauncey Billups, Damon Jones and Terry Rozier. Three of the named defendants are charged for their alleged roles in both schemes.
This alleged illegal gambling operation hustled unwitting victims out of tens of millions of dollars and created a financial pipeline for La Cosa
Nostra to help fund and facilitate their organized criminal activity.
Victims were attracted to play alongside well-known professional athletes and coaches, like Chauncey Billups, only to be unknowingly deceived through
rigged shuffling machines, fixing the odds in their favor as alleged.
And as you just heard from the U.S. attorney's office, this alleged scheme wreaked havoc across the nation, exploiting the notoriety of some and the
wallets of many to fund the Italian crime families here in New York.
Let me be clear about this fact. The FBI has not and will never take their eye off the ball when it comes to Italian organized crime; in this city,
specifically, the LCN and the Five Families.
Here in New York, we are not going to permit any criminal enterprise, whether it be Italian organized crime, Asian organized crime, Eurasian
organized crime.
We're not going to permit any of those organized crime families and organizations to operate in our city or our country, as evidenced by the 11
states that were also participating in this operation today.
The FBI office here in New York remains committed to eradicating all unlawful revenue streams fueling this criminal activity. As with most cases
we work, this is only the tip of the iceberg for the FBI and the U.S. attorney's office.
Our LCN squad agents and analysts are continuing to work day and night with the Eastern District of New York to ensure members and associates of the
Five Families cannot continue to wreak havoc in our communities.
Today would not have been possible without the tireless efforts and dedication of the FBI New York Eurasian Organized Crime Task Force, which,
as you heard, was led by supervisory special agent Luke Hardison (ph) and the Italian Organized Task Force, which was led by supervisory special
agent Mike Milei (ph).
And coincidentally, supervisory special agent Milei (ph) is going out on a positive as he is retiring at the end of this month for 30 years of
dedicated service to the FBI. And that deserves a hand.
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RAIA: He's what we call a legend here at FBI New York.
Additionally, obviously, we cannot do this alone without our partners. I want to extend my appreciation to Homeland Security investigations special
agent in charge, Ricky Patel.
Of course, we do nothing in this city without the NYPD.
New York City Police Department Commissioner Jessi Tisch, thank you, ma'am, for all your work and all your resources that you dedicated to this.
And New York Waterfront Commissioner Phoebe Sorial for their agency's assistance and support throughout this lengthy and complex investigation.
Our collective efforts ensured these subjects will face accountability, like the director said, for their alleged wrongdoings.
Thank you. And I now turn it over to special agent in charge of HSI, Ricky Patel.
RICK PATEL, SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE, HOMELAND SECURITY INVESTIGATIONS, NEW YORK: Thanks, Chris.
Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Rick Patel. I'm the special agent in charge for Homeland Security investigations here in New York.
This morning, hundreds of special agents and investigators with HSI, the FBI, the New York Waterfront Commission and the NYPD descended upon the
homes of individuals who, for years, have operated with a false sense of impunity, a false sense of incivility.
In the early hours of today, across nine states, coast to coast, dozens of defendants were arrested and will face the consequences of their alleged
crimes. This was their wakeup call.
With the alleged involvement of three La Cosa Nostra crime families, one NBA head coach, a Hall of Famer, no less, and former NBA players, the years
of investigative work that culminated with this morning's operation seem reminiscent of a Hollywood movie.
But this wasn't luck and this wasn't theatrics. This was an evidence- driven, relentless and unified effort among law enforcement. Through what we have dubbed Operation Royal Flush, HSI New York, along with our task
force personnel from the Waterfront Commission, first uncovered the scheme more than four years ago.
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Agents and investigators dedicated countless hours and sleepless nights in identifying the criminal network, dissecting communications and patterns
and following the money with precision.
We built a case piece by piece. And what we discovered was a sprawling criminal enterprise that utilized cutting-edge technology and various
methods of deception to dupe unsuspecting gamblers into paying up so that these defendants could cash out.
As alleged, this sophisticated conspiracy cheated victims out of at least $7 million and placed the public and the defendants alike at risk. This
case involved global reach, financial death and the patience to dismantle complex financial criminal enterprises from the inside out.
When criminal organizations attempt to launder profits through our country, HSI connects the dots and shuts it down.
To anyone who thinks intimidation, fraud or violence will shield their profits, understand this: if you are exploiting our communities, expect
HSI and all of our law enforcement partners at your door.
I would like to thank all our partners here today; obviously, the United States attorney's office for the Eastern District of New York, the
Waterfront Commission, the FBI, the NYPD and the prosecutors that will carry this forward.
Today's arrests are not an endpoint. They are the start of accountability. Thank you. And I now turn it over to police commissioner Jessi Tisch.
JESSICA TISCH, COMMISSIONER, NEW YORK POLICE DEPARTMENT: Good morning. Thank you to Director Patel, Assistant Director Raia and U.S. Attorney
Nocella. What we're announcing today is not just another takedown.
It's the result of more than two years of coordinated investigative work by the NYPD's Joint Organized Crime Task Force and the FBI, two cases that
exposed criminal networks led by 34 individuals who believe the rules did not apply to them.
They hid behind layers of complexity, behind money and behind influence, believing those things would shield them from accountability.
The first case, Operation Nothing but Bet, exposed a gambling ring built around professional basketball, where players and associates allegedly used
inside information to manipulate prop bets on major sports betting platforms.
They placed wagers on unders, on players to score less, rebound less, assist less using information that was not yet public. In some instances,
players altered their performance or took themselves out of games to make sure that those bets paid out.
One example occurred on March 23rd, 2023, in Charlotte. Terry Rozier, an NBA player now with the Miami Heat but at the time playing for the Hornets,
allegedly let others close to him know that he planned to leave the game early with a supposed injury.
Using that information, members of the group placed more than $200,000 in wagers on his under statistics. Rozier exited the game after just nine
minutes and those bets paid out, generating tens of thousands of dollars in profit. The proceeds were later delivered to his home, where the group
counted their cash.
As the NBA season tips off, his career is already benched, not for injury but for integrity. As a result of this investigation, six defendants,
including Rozier, are now facing conspiracy to commit bank and wire fraud.
In a second case, Operation Zhen Diagram, investigators uncovered a long- running scheme, in which members and associates of several well-known organized crime families rigged high-stakes poker games across the country.
These operatives included capos and multiple soldiers from the Bonanno, Gambino, Lucchese and Genovese crime families. Bringing four of the Five
Families together in a single indictment is extraordinarily rare. It reflects how deep and how far this investigation reached and the skill and
the persistence it took to get here.
That work uncovered a deliberate, technologically sophisticated operation designed to carry out their crimes. They used custom shuffling machines
that could read the order of cards, barcoded decks and hidden cameras built into tables and light fixtures.
The organizers also enlisted well-known public figures, former and current NBA players and coaches, including Chauncey Billups, the head coach of the
Portland Trail Blazers and NBA champion and a Hall of Famer, to make the games appear legitimate.
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Victims believed that they were sitting at a fair table. Instead, they were cheated out of millions. One victim in a -- in particular lost $1.8
million. And total losses exceeded $7 million and continued to climb.
And when people refused to pay, these defendants did what organized crime has always done. They used threats. They used intimidation and they used
violence. It's the same pattern that we have seen for decades, traditional mob enforcement methods, combined with new technology to expand the reach
of their operations.
Now with the unsealing of today's indictment, 34 individuals are facing charges, including robbery, extortion, money laundering, wire fraud, bank
fraud and illegal gambling.
I want to commend the outstanding work of our detectives from the Joint Organized Crime Task Force and their dedication to these cases, especially
Captain Ruben Kagan (ph), Sergeant Chris Maguire (ph), Detective Alexander Kremer (ph), Detective James McCullough and, of course, our chief of
detectives, Chief Kenny.
As part of these investigations, our members recovered and reviewed thousands of hours of video, conducted extensive surveillance on illegal
gambling locations across the city and executed more than 2 dozen search warrants on electronic records that revealed the true extent of this
conspiracy.
Once again, the work of our detectives, together with the FBI and the U.S. attorney's office, closed those gaps before they could widen further.
The NYPD is proud to stand with each of you today as these cases represent the kind of partnership that defines modern law enforcement, agencies
sharing intelligence, coordinating resources and moving as one team. Thank you.
NOCELLA: If anyone has any questions that they'd like to ask, now is the time.
QUESTION: I have a question about the structure of the case.
Is it, the investigation, into one case, did that lead into the discovery of the other?
How -- could you talk more about the link between the two?
NOCELLA: I'm not at liberty to discuss either the background of the investigation itself or the investigation as it continues. So I'm afraid I
can't really explain to you, other than the fact that both cases have been unsealed today and there was an overlap that has been discussed already
with respect to certain of the defendants.
QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE) --
NOCELLA: Yes.
QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE) claimed that he had a gambling addiction (INAUDIBLE). Will in Billups or Damon Jones claim the same thing at all?
NOCELLA: With respect to any allegations or defenses that have been made by any of the defendants, they will have their opportunity to present them
in court. We're not here to air those at this time or to discuss them.
Yes.
QUESTION: You said the investigation is still ongoing. There seems to be several players referenced in the indictments, some that may have
potentially passed on information.
Is there the possibility of future arrest of NBA players in connection to the sports gambling operation, specifically?
NOCELLA: The -- as I said, I can't discuss ongoing investigations. The investigation is ongoing, which, by definition, means that there will be
further evidence uncovered at a minimum. And there's always that possibility. But I can't comment any further with respect to that.
Yes.
QUESTION: Thank you.
Director Patel, you had said in your comments we're going to "take heat" for this case.
Why do you say that?
And what efforts might you take to counter that?
PATEL: It's not popular to go after some of the defendants that we went after today. But justice is served blindly.
And how do we countermand that?
Simple, the unsealing of these indictments today shows the force of the Department of Justice and our great attorney general and the leadership
that we have at the FBI and the team here to specifically mete out justice.
And look, let's not mince words. This is the insider trading saga for the NBA. That's what this is. That's why we are going to take heat. But as the
evidence comes out, as the indictments are unsealed, you will see the extensive work these men and women put in, countless hours over years.
And that's how we countermand it.
QUESTION: Director Patel, so (INAUDIBLE) the indictment, filed on October 9th and October 16th, can you talk about the timing of moving in now?
Why now?
PATEL: We will not publicly discuss the timing of when we do takedowns. I will only say that we do takedowns in a coordinated fashion with our law
enforcement partners and the U.S. attorney at the appropriate time, to make sure that we ensure the integrity of the investigation.
As the United States attorney said, an investigation that is very much ongoing.
[10:45:00]
QUESTION: Director Patel, you said insider trading for the NBA.
What are the implications of this case for other sports leagues and for the legal gambling industry in general?
PATEL: Simple. If you're participating in an a legal gambling industry, you got nothing to worry about. If you're participating in illegal conduct,
you got everything to worry about. And this case shows it.
QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE) conduct across with the legal sports betting platforms in any capacity?
And if so, is that the search warrants that the police commissioner just referenced?
NOCELLA: I'm not sure I quite understand your question.
You're asking if the illegal conduct --
QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE) crossed with the sports betting industry or the online sports betting.
NOCELLA: The sports books themselves are victims in this case. They themselves did not, as far as our investigation has concluded, they did not
perpetrate anything unlawful.
QUESTION: Are you able to say which sports books or online outlets they used to make these bets?
NOCELLA: I'm not going to respond to that at this time but that information will be made public.
Yes.
QUESTION: Can you identify the access point where these coconspirators were able to recruit these, you know, famous people to partake in the
schemes?
NOCELLA: When you say the access point... ?
QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE) recruit them?
NOCELLA: I'm not sure which case you're referring to.
QUESTION: Oh. Well (INAUDIBLE), how he was recruited; Damon Jones in the NBA scandal and then Billups for the poker game?
NOCELLA: We're not at liberty to say that at this time. That will be revealed in due course.
Yes.
QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE)?
He was a --
NOCELLA: What is your question, sir?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE).
QUESTION: Hey, thanks for being here. You just said that the sports books themselves are the victims, at least in the indictment involving Terry
Rozier and others.
NOCELLA: They're among the victims.
QUESTION: But those companies make, as we all know, they make a crazy amount of money off of a lot of everyday Americans. Make bets and mostly
lose them.
Are you concerned with a jury potentially not being sympathetic in a case where the victims, as you say, are these multimillion- or billion-dollar
gambling companies?
NOCELLA: With the -- let me repeat that all of the defendants themselves are presumed innocent. We believe that at a trial, when they have the
opportunity to present their defenses, if they chose -- because they're not required to -- we will come forward with the evidence to demonstrate their
guilt.
Yes.
QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE). I'm sorry.
QUESTION: Did the NBA cooperate with this investigation?
NOCELLA: The answer to your question is yes. The NBA has cooperated with the investigation.
Yes, sir.
QUESTION: There have been reason to believe there's an associated college basketball element to this. Can you confirm that or is there another
investigation or part of this investigation that will affect this?
NOCELLA: The investigations that we announced today did not involve college basketball.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Last question, last question.
NOCELLA: Yes.
QUESTION: There was an emphasis on the Italian crime presence, organized crime in New York.
Can you give us a sense of the strength and status of Italian organized crime in New York right now?
NOCELLA: No. I'm sorry. That would be a question that goes beyond --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): This is CNN breaking news.
(JOINED IN PROGRESS)
ZELENSKYY: -- about -- mostly about guess. And because Russians destroyed. And I think -- and I think that they will work, they will continue work on
it. And that's why I need energy support.
And, of course, with Norway, I spoke about it. And, of course, we -- he accept not only gas and, yesterday, he gave absolutely good package again.
And thanks to him. But we also spoke about on what we can count next year and the next year's support will be not -- will not decrease. So we'll have
the same, the same, I think, package from Norway.
It's military. It's financial, humanitarian. And you see what winters we have. So an energy support, that's what we spoke about. Thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, please. Bloomberg next.
Please stand up so people can see you.
QUESTION: Thank you, Mr. President. (INAUDIBLE) from Bloomberg, I want to ask again about the frozen assets. It sounds like the conversation today is
not as smooth as many hoped and there may be some more obstacles to overcome. And it may take much longer than expected.
Have European partners offered any plan B for financing needs, were this deal not to come to pass?
Thank you.
ZELENSKYY: I think that the dialogue was really -- maybe not simple but it was very good.
[10:50:03]
And really we count on decisions on this topic. It will be very helpful not only for Ukraine. As I said previously, we are ready to finance or to use a
part together with Europeans to strengthen Europe. We have technologies we are ready to share with the countries who helped us in (INAUDIBLE).
(AUDIO GAP)
QUESTION (through translator): Thank you, Freedom TV channel. Thank you for your words of support for our colleagues and that you mentioned this
attack during her speech and communication with leaders. My questions is about your meeting with president of United States.
Did you expect that situation will change so dramatically just in one week?
And how you feel these changes, what did you expect that this meeting will be much more positive than media expected?
Thank you.
ZELENSKYY: The result of this meeting, what can I say?
And I will not go to details. So the result of this meeting, we have sanctions on Russian energy. We don't have meeting in Hungary without
Ukraine. And we have not yet Tomahawks. That's it. This is the result. I think not bad.
(LAUGHTER)
QUESTION: Did you expect (INAUDIBLE)?
ZELENSKYY: We will see. I don't know, really. Each day brings something. I don't know, maybe tomorrow. I don't know. We will have Tomahawks.
I don't know, I don't -- thank you so much.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "The Wall Street Journal," please, far in the back. Thanks.
QUESTION: Thanks, Lawrence Norman of "The Wall Street Journal."
President Zelenskyy, two questions.
First of all, when do you need -- when does Ukraine need to have the reparations loan ready?
When do you need to start receiving the money?
And secondly, you commented, after the Washington meeting, a -- it's a journalist, you talked about Steve Witkoff and how he was proposing that
there could be land swaps and that you may need to give bits of Donbas back.
Obviously, president Trump, at the end of the meeting, said the contact line should be the starting point. But president Trump has been known to
change his mind on occasion.
How secure do you feel that the U.S. is now convinced that the contact line should be the starting point for a ceasefire and it will not change its
mind again?
Thank you.
ZELENSKYY: Very difficult question.
Yes, really, about the swaps, sometimes we call it swaps but I agree with some of my friends and partners. It's not the swap when you exchange your
territory on your territory. This is the first. Not this war when you exchange nothing to your territory. I mean, this is just wishes of
somebody. I don't know why.
So I mean, this -- so, it means that. Look, Russians will not -- Russians will not get some additional land if you will go back from your land. Swaps
for -- it's something crazy, I don't know what does it mean.
And we don't like swap. In any case, we will not recognize swap on our territory. It's about our sovereignty. It's not acceptable. And this is the
first.
The second?
We need -- maybe it's the second, this first. You asked about this money. We need it in 2026. And better to have it at the very beginning of the
year. But I don't know if it's possible. I don't know, not everything depends on us. Something depends. And it's good in this question but not
everything we understand who can block.
And we will work with these people. And it's a pity; some of them are ready to work but some of them, it's even don't ready to listen. So...
[10:55:00]
But in good news that not too much. I think one is not too much. So one, two, yes. So -- and about what did you ask more?
Sorry. I forgot you asked me some questions.
QUESTION: I think that was it.
When do you -- when do you need the money by?
I think you've answered that. And the -- your comments about Witkoff and how secure you feel that Trump will stick to the contact lines. But maybe
you've already answered that.
ANDERSON: All right. You've been listening to a press conference held in Brussels, where the president of Ukraine is speaking to reporters after his
meeting there with Europeans, who have decided to put in a 19th package of sanctions on Russia.
That, of course, follows sanctions on two Russian oil companies by the United States, a moment -- a significant moment in the Ukraine conflict.
More to come here, of course, on CNN.
That is it for CONNECT THE WORLD. Stay with CNN. "ONE WORLD" is up next.
END
