Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups and Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier are among 34 people arrested in connection with illegal sports betting and rigged poker games involving the mafia and organised crime networks, the Federal Bureau of Investigation announced Thursday.

In a news conference announcing the charges, law enforcement officials said the separate investigations revealed “mind-boggling” amounts of fraud.

“One of the most brazen sports corruption schemes since online sports betting became widely legalised in the United States,” U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr. said.

The charges surrounding betting state that Rozier and other defendants “had access to private information known by NBA players or NBA coaches,” and passed that knowledge to a network of bettors.

In the poker investigation, Nocella said the underground games were backed by the mafia, and Billups is allegedly one of the defendants that were part of a scheme that used advanced technology to steal millions of dollars from poker players.

Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups has been charged in an illegal poker operation tied to the Mafia, law enforcement sources have told @ABC News.

Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier was arrested in a separate but related betting case.

More: https://t.co/BpAbVBgVDI pic.twitter.com/ksAWmMdOv1

— ABC News (@ABC) October 23, 2025

The NBA has placed Billups and Rozier "on immediate leave from their teams" while the league reviews the indictments.

Portland assistant and former NBA player Tiago Splitter will take over as the Trail Blazers' interim head coach.

Billups, elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2024, was on the sidelines Wednesday when Portland opened their season with a 118-114 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves.

The 49-year-old was the 2004 NBA Finals MVP with the Detroit Pistons and retired in 2014 after playing 17 seasons in the league.

He began his coaching career as an assistant with the Los Angeles Clippers in 2020 and got his first head coaching job the very next season with Portland.

The Trail Blazers have gone 117-212 with no play-off appearances under Billups.

Rozier, 31, was in uniform for Miami’s season opener on Wednesday, but the 11th-year guard did not play as the Heat fell 125-121 at the Orlando Magic.

He is in the final season of a four-year, $97million contract and has averaged 18.2 points, 4.3 assists and 4.2 rebounds since becoming a full-time starter in the NBA in 2019.