Jontay Porter NBA Gambling Scandal Expands with Two New Suspects
Timothy McCormack and Mahmud Mollah join Long Phi Pham and an unnamed fourth defendant in a federal wire fraud case as new documents are unsealed.
Two more men were charged Thursday in the sports betting scandal that led to the NBA banning former Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter for life. Timothy McCormack and Mahmud Mollah join two other men — Long Phi Pham and a fourth individual whose name remains redacted in court documents — as defendants in a federal wire fraud case involving wagers allegedly based on tips from a player about his plans to exit two games early.
Prosecutors have not publicly named Porter in connection with the case, but the game dates and other details about “Player 1” mentioned in the court documents align with Porter and his April banishment from the NBA. Brooklyn federal prosecutors have declined to comment on whether the former forward is under investigation.
Current contact information for Porter could not be immediately found. Messages seeking comment were sent to an agent who has represented him. An NBA investigation in April found that Porter tipped off bettors about his health and then claimed illness to exit at least one game, ensuring certain wagers succeeded. Porter also gambled on NBA games in which he didn’t play, once betting against his own team, according to the league.
Prosecutors allege that McCormack, Mollah, Pham, and the unnamed fourth defendant participated in a scheme to have “Player 1” remove himself from the court to win bets against his performance. Mollah’s bets on a March 20 game reportedly netted over $1 million, according to the complaint. It states that Pham, the player, and the unnamed defendant were each supposed to receive about a quarter of those winnings, with McCormack getting a 4% cut, before a betting company became suspicious and blocked Mollah from collecting most of the money.
McCormack also allegedly cleared more than $69,000 on bets placed on that game and another on January 26, according to the complaint. His attorney, Jeffrey Chartier, said Thursday that “no case is a slam-dunk” and declined to comment on whether his client knows Porter. Lawyers for Mollah and Pham have also declined to comment on the allegations.
McCormack, 36, of New York, and Mollah, 24, of Lansdale, Pennsylvania, were granted $50,000 bond each after their arraignments on Thursday. Pham, who was arraigned earlier this week, was released on Thursday to home detention and electronic monitoring on a $750,000 bond. The 38-year-old Brooklyn resident also uses the first name Bruce.
According to the complaint, “Player 1” had amassed significant gambling debts by the beginning of 2024, and the unnamed defendant urged him to clear his obligations by doing a “special” — their code for leaving certain games early to ensure the success of bets that he would underperform expectations.
“If I don’t do a special with your terms, then it’s up. And you hate me and if I don’t get you 8k by Friday you’re coming to Toronto to beat me up,” the player said in an encrypted message, according to the complaint. It states that he went on to tell the defendants that he planned to take himself out of the Jan. 26 game early, claiming injury.
-Player 1
Porter played 4 minutes and 24 seconds against the Los Angeles Clippers in that game before saying he had aggravated an eye problem. He scored no points, had 3 rebounds, and 1 assist, below what sportsbooks were expecting. That meant a payday for anyone who bet the “under.”
Then, the complaint said, the player told the defendants that he would exit the March 20 game by claiming he was sick. Porter played 2 minutes and 43 seconds against the Sacramento Kings that day, finishing with no points or assists and 2 rebounds, again short of the betting line.
After the NBA and others began investigating, the player warned Pham, Mollah, and the unnamed defendant via an encrypted messaging app that they “might just get hit with a RICO” — an apparent reference to the common acronym for a federal racketeering charge — and asked whether they had deleted “all the stuff” from their phones, according to the complaint.
NBA players, coaches, referees, and other team personnel are prohibited from betting on any of the league’s games or on events such as draft picks. In banning Porter, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver called the forward’s actions “blatant.”
