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Pablo Torre Finds Out: NEW: The DOJ could build a criminal conspiracy case against Steve Ballmer and the Clippers for securities fraud in the Kawhi Leonard scandal, former federal prosecutors tell @PabloTorre. "Even in 2026, a creative theory could map out a road to jail time." And that's before Trump gets involved.
Last year, EquiTrust was sold to Amistad, one of the companies reportedly caught up in the DOJ investigation. Amistad’s managing founder is Holoman, who used to run Magic Johnson Enterprises and has been Johnson’s longtime business partner, including as governor of the WNBA’s Los Angeles Sparks and as his partner in JLC Infrastructure. The deal appears to have been debt-financed.
Investigators are looking into at least two of Walter’s companies: Delaware Life and Clear Spring Life & Annuity. The probes center around inaccurate disclosures by the life insurers tied to what are known as “affiliated investments;” the amount originally disclosed was billions of dollars lower than what the company has since reported in restated disclosures. TWG’s statement says “there has been no fraud” and notes “there is no victim here. No one has been harmed, and no one has claimed they were harmed.” It also says TWG is “committed to working with” the DOJ and SEC to “resolve their inquiries,” and that it has “presented a plan to address any regulatory concerns.” A representative for the SEC declined to comment, and representatives for the DOJ and SDNY did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Mike Vorkunov: A lawyer for US Attorney's Office for EDNY and the federal judge overseeing the case both said that feds didn't mean to imply Terry Rozier was part of a gang in the filing in tweet below. "The gov't is not alleging that Mr. Rozier is part of a gang," a DOJ lawyer said in court.
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Terry Rozier has asked a federal judge to throw out two of the four charges brought against him over the last year by the U.S. Department of Justice. In a new filing Friday, lawyers for Rozier said that the NBA veteran never agreed to manipulate his performance for the sake of sports gamblers and that Rozier did not know that anyone was betting on his stats during a March 23, 2023, game while he was with the Charlotte Hornets, as federal prosecutors have alleged.
Mike Vorkunov: Chauncey Billups' lawyers filed a letter to the federal judge overseeing his case to keep Nov. 2 as the trial date, and saying DOJ's argument isn't persuasive. "This case has caused him to lose his livelihood and become subject to an intense degree of public obloquy."
Mike Vorkunov: Federal prosecutors in the rigged poker game case, where Chauncey Billups is a defendant, have asked to move the trial from Nov. 2, 2026 to early 2027. After 12 people agreed to plead guilty, DOJ lawyers say that they're in "serious plea negotiations" with at least 7 others.
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Former Kentucky basketball player Kerr Kriisa has been arrested and indicted on a $2.2 million fraud scheme, the Department of Justice announced on Monday. Kriisa -- a 6-foot-3 guard from Estonia who played at Kentucky, Arizona, West Virginia and Cincinnati over six seasons -- "allegedly carried out a scheme to obtain nearly $2.2 million from multiple victims using false representations, fabricated identities, and deceptive communications," per the DOJ's news release on his arrest.
According to the Department of Justice, Kriisa allegedly ran a four-year scheme that involved convincing one victim to send him money by saying his mother had cancer and needed treatment. By posing as his mother in another scheme, he allegedly told one victim he needed money to "save" the family's farm. He also allegedly acted as a woman named "Irene" to sign a fraudulent promise to repay one of the victims $100,000 by a February deadline, per the DOJ's indictment.
A federal judge has asked the NBA to weigh in on whether Terry Rozier should have a chance to play in the league next season. Rozier is not allowed to be in contact with the Charlotte Hornets while he awaits a trial for charges that he took a bribe to manipulate his performance during a 2023 game while he was with the team — one of four federal counts stemming from an investigation into alleged illegal sports gambling. A lawyer for Rozier has asked the Department of Justice and the judge to lift that provision of his release on bond, saying it effectively prevents the veteran guard from playing in the league. The judge, LaShann DeArcy Hall, said she wants to hear from the NBA before she decides what to do. The Hornets have taken no position on the request, a lawyer for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District said.
Pablo Torre Finds Out: Steve Ballmer quietly admitted to a secret side deal with Aspiration's co-founder — a guarantee on his $50M investment similar to the "I.O.U" for Kawhi Leonard. "He is a victim," says the DOJ prosecutor who launched the case. "But he had a very different deal."