Fourth man arrested in NBA betting scandal involving Jontay Porter

A fourth man was arrested on Friday (June 7) in connection with the sports betting controversy that led to the ban of Toronto Raptors forward Jontay Porter from the NBA.

Ammar Awawdeh, 32, turned himself in to authorities after three other people were arrested earlier last week. A lawsuit alleges that Awawdeh coerced an NBA player, referred to as “Player 1,” to pay off his gambling debts by leaving games early. The strategy, which the duo described as a “special,” was designed to guarantee winnings for gamblers who had bet on his poor performance in those games.

According to a lawsuit, Awawdeh wrote earlier this year on the encrypted messaging app Telegram that he was “coercing” the player and told him to “take a screenshot of this.”

What happened in the NBA betting scandal?

Porter was “overwhelmed” by his gambling addiction, his lawyer said, ESPN and the Associated Press reported. “Jontay is a good young man with strong faith that will get him through this. He was overwhelmed by his gambling addiction. He is in treatment and is cooperating fully with law enforcement,” said Jeff Jensen, a prosecutor for state investigations in St. Louis.

Awawdeh was arraigned and released on $100,000 bail to house arrest with ankle shackles. His attorney, Alan Gerson, declined to comment on the charges.

Although Porter was not formally charged or named in the lawsuit, the details surrounding “Player 1” are similar to those of an NBA investigation that ended with his indefinite suspension in April. The NBA found that Porter had bet on NBA games he did not play in and intentionally withdrew from at least one game, allowing a bet to earn more than $1 million to a bettor who had prior knowledge.

According to the indictment, Awawdeh and his co-defendants Timothy McCormack, Mahmud Mollah and Long Phi Pham exploited inside knowledge of Player 1’s intentions to place profitable bets on his performance in the January 26 and March 20 games.

The complaint also alleges that a betting company prevented Mollah from claiming most of his more than $1 million winnings from the March 20 game.

The defendants, who are accused of conspiracy to commit fraud, have not yet commented on their guilty pleas. Attorneys for the defendants have generally refrained from commenting, with the exception of McCormack’s attorney, Jeffrey Chartier, who stated that “no case is a no-brainer.”

Featured image: Ideogram