Posted on: October 4, 2024, 12:02h.
Last updated on: October 4, 2024, 12:02h.
A Brooklyn poker player whose name surfaced in a 2023 cheating scandal has pleaded guilty to wire fraud conspiracy for his role in the insider betting scandal surrounding former Toronto Raptors power forward Jontay Porter.
Long Phi “Bruce” Pham, 38, was a member of the gang that bet heavily on Porter to underperform in two Raptors games earlier this year. Porter owed the group money and agreed to pull out of the games early claiming injury or illness as a way to pay them back.
The scheme would have netted more than US$2 million for Pham and his coconspirators from bets placed via DraftKings and FanDuel. But the lion’s share of the winnings was frozen by the sportsbooks when they detected suspicious betting patterns.
Porter Life Ban
Following an NBA investigation, Porter was kicked out of the league for life in April. In July, he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud in a federal court.
He said he agreed to participate in the scheme because he was heavily indebted to the group due to a gambling problem.
Pham was arrested by the FBI on June 3 as he attempted to board a one-way flight to Australia. He was carrying $12K in cash, $80K in cashier’s checks, and three cell phones.
Pham denied trying to flee the country claiming he was on his way to a poker tournament at the Star Casino in Sydney.
There was no major tournament festival held at the Star that month, and it was unclear why the defendant would travel to the other side of the world to participate in the casino’s regular roster of low-to-medium stakes events.
Poker Cheating Allegations
Pham was one of several poker players publicly accused of being a member of a ring that allegedly cheated high-stakes players out millions of dollars in private games in Los Angeles in 2023.
One of the players who alleged he was cheated, Ben Lee, publicly named Pham, and others. The matter was never resolved, and the allegations against Pham are unproven.
Pham’s three co-conspirators, Ammar Awawdeh, Timothy McCormac, and Mahmud Mollah, are yet to enter a plea.
Pham has been released on a $750K bond as he awaits sentencing, which has been scheduled for April 25, 2025. He faces up to 20 years in prison.
