Photo: Steph Chambers / Getty Images Sport / Getty Images
The FBI is conducting two major investigations into organized crime after uncovering sprawling gambling and game-rigging schemes allegedly tied to New York City’s most infamous mafia families.
AThe probes focus on insider betting on NBA games and the rigging of underground poker matches, both of which prosecutors say were designed to funnel money into criminal enterprises run by La Cosa Nostra. The alleged operations have exposed how traditional mob networks are adapting to new technology to continue profiting from illegal gambling.
A report published by CNN states that the investigation centers on members of the Bonanno, Gambino, Lucchese, and Genovese crime families, long-known power players in New York’s organized crime history. “Spook,” “Flappy,” “Juice,” and “The Wrestler” are among the nicknames listed in court filings tied to the schemes.
NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said the crime families formed an unusual alliance to profit from technology-enhanced gambling, explaining, “When people refused to pay, these defendants did what organized crime has always done — they used threats, intimidation, and violence.”
Court documents reviewed by CNN show that the mob-linked groups allegedly rigged poker games using altered shuffling machines, stealing millions from unsuspecting players — including nearly $2 million from a single victim.
Investigators reportedly analyzed thousands of hours of surveillance video to track down the suspects, including a man known as “Big Bruce.” One defendant, identified as “Flappy,” allegedly texted others confirming his illegal ring was backed by the Gambino crime family, while another, Robert Stroud — known as “Black Rob” — is accused of supplying rigged shuffle machines and helping orchestrate a robbery to steal one.
Experts told CNN that the devices were designed to secretly transmit data to earpieces, giving certain players access to the winning cards before each hand was played. “That shuffle machine is altered to transmit to an earpiece to tell the people who are gonna win,” said Sal Piacente, president of UniverSal Game Protection.
Christopher Raia, assistant director in charge of the FBI’s New York Field Office, said the schemes generated a “financial pipeline” for the mob. “This alleged gambling operation hustled victims out of tens of millions of dollars and helped fund organized criminal activity,” Raia told CNN.
Federal prosecutors have requested that several of the dozens of defendants remain detained due to their mafia affiliations. Among them is Angelo Ruggiero Jr., a reputed Gambino family member who allegedly bragged in prison about his relationship with former boss John Gotti Sr. and claimed he once “shot a man in the chest.”
Some defendants have entered not guilty pleas, and others have been released on bail as the FBI continues to unravel one of the largest modern-day mob gambling conspiracies ever uncovered.