Scott Foster is a referee in the National Basketball League who has occasionally drawn the ire of fans.
Social media reports falsely claimed that he was arrested in connection with the sweeping federal gambling probe that netted other top NBA figures.
However, there is no evidence in any of the federal indictments that Foster was arrested. Nor does he have any connection to the probe.
- USA Today also reported that the social media reports are false and Foster was not arrested as part of the gambling probe.
That didn’t stop some fans from weighing in on social media as the false reports took off on X. “Patiently waiting on that Scott Foster arrest,” wrote one.
Who Is Accused in the NBA Gambling Probe?
Although Foster wasn’t among them, the NBA gambling probe did net some big names.
“Earlier today, at the federal courthouse in Brooklyn, an indictment was unsealed charging six defendants — Eric Earnest, also known as ‘Spook,’ Marves Fairley, also known as ‘Vez,’ ‘Vezino,’ and ‘Vezino Locks,’ Shane Hennen, also known as ‘Sugar,’ Damon Jones, also known as ‘D Jones,’ and ‘Dee Jones,’ Deniro Laster, also known as ‘Niro,’ ‘Payso,’ and ‘Peso,’ and Terry Rozier, also known as ‘Scary Terry’ and ‘Chum’ — with wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy for their alleged roles in a scheme to use inside information from National Basketball Association (NBA) players and coaches to profit from illegal betting activity,” the U.S. Department of Justice’s statement says.
That indictment accuses the defendants of being involved in a massive illegal betting operation that included faked injury and inside information about top players.
Photo by Tomas Diniz Santos/Getty Images
For example, the DOJ’s release cites a March 23, 2023, Charlotte Hornets game in which Rozier, then an active player on the team, “tipped off longtime friend Laster that Rozier planned to leave the game early due to a purported injury. Rozier provided this information to Laster for the purpose of enabling Laster to place wagers based on this information.”
In a separate case, the DOJ accused Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups of being involved in a scheme to “rig illegal poker games” with 30 other defendants in New York City, East Hampton and throughout the U.S. That alleged scheme is tied to Mafia families, the statement says.
“This morning, 31 defendants were arrested in 11 states, including members and associates of the Bonanno, Gambino, and Genovese organized crime families of La Cosa Nostra (LCN); Chauncey Billups, head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers of the National Basketball Association (NBA); and Damon Jones, also known as ‘Dee,’ a former NBA player with the Cleveland Cavaliers and Miami Heat. The defendants will make initial court appearances this afternoon at federal courthouses throughout the United States, including the Eastern District of New York,” a DOJ statement reads.
“As alleged, members and associates of organized crime families fixed illegal poker games as part of a highly sophisticated and lucrative fraud scheme to cheat victims out of millions of dollars and conspired with others to perpetrate their frauds,” stated United States Attorney Joseph Nocella.
“Well-known former NBA players and former professional athletes, acted as ‘Face Cards’ to lure unsuspecting victims to high-stakes poker games, where they were then at the mercy of concealed technology, including rigged shuffling machines and specially designed contacts lenses and sunglasses to read the backs of playing cards, which ensured that the victims would lose big. Today’s indictment and arrests sounds the final buzzer for these cheaters.”
Foster’s name does not appear in those statements.
