A self-described “poker shark” was busted for his role in pushing former Toronto Raptors forward Jontay Porter — who is banned for life from the NBA — to leave games early with phony injuries as part of a $1 million sports betting scandal.
A federal judge set bail at $750,000 for Long Phi Pham on fraud charges after finding he was trying to skip town when he tried Monday to board a flight from John F. Kennedy International Airport to Australia on a one-way ticket.
“I think he is trying to flee the country to evade prosecution,” Magistrate Judge Cheryl Pollak said during a hearing Wednesday in Brooklyn federal court. “I am sitting here today with very serious doubts that I am making a big mistake.”
Pham, 38, is a member of a crew to whom Porter owed a massive sum to before tanking his performance in at least two games at their behest, the feds claim.
Instead of heading out on the lam, Pham was actually headed to Sydney, Australia for a poker tournament at the Star Casino, his lawyer Michael Soshnick said.
Pham describes himself as a poker player that ranks in the “one percent of poker players in the world,” the attorney told reporters afterward.
According the Hendon Mob database of global poker players, the only player named Long Pham from New York is ranked 287,829th in the world with just $3,330 in tournament winnings.
Soshnick had no comment when asked whether his client personally knew Jontay Porter.
Pham could be released from custody as soon as Thursday after he posts the bond with the help of relatives who are putting up two properties as collateral, his lawyer said.
He’ll also be subject to home confinement and GPS monitoring, the judge said.
The Brooklyn man is facing wire fraud charges based on allegedly working with the journeyman NBA player Porter, 24, to rig the “under” on bets based on Porter’s performance in a game, like how many points or rebounds he would have.
Porter faked an eye injury in a Jan. 26 game against the Los Angeles Clippers and left a March 20 game against the Sacramento Kings early with a phony “illness” excuse — ensuring that the “unders” on those wagers would hit, court papers allege.
The alleged crew members made more than $1 million on their rigged “under” bets, but some of the winnings were never collected after a gambling company marked it as suspicious, court papers say.
Prosecutors disclosed Wednesday that Pham involved his own sister, Linh Pham, in the scheme. His sister, now one of the suretors on his bond, placed a $2,000 bet on Porter’s “under” on the March 20 game, Benjamin Weintraub said.
Linh Pham is not charged with a crime and it’s unclear whether she knew that her brother had inside information when she placed the bet. Long Phi Pham uses his relatives as “straw bettors at best,” Weintraub said.
Long Phi also planned to buy $100,000 worth of Rolex watches and send them to one of his sisters, which prosecutors in court called a “transfer of liquid cash” in arguing for him to be held without bail.
“What this says to the government is that this defendant has no concern involving his family members in his illicit, illegal conduct,” Weintraub told the court.
A spokesman for Eastern District U.S. Attorney Breon Peace declined to comment Wednesday on whether Porter himself is under investigation. Authorities say they are looking for at least three unidentified co-conspirators in the alleged scheme.
Before his lifetime ban, Porter had been making a salary of just over $410,000.
At the NBA level, he averaged just 4.4 points, 3.2 rebounds and 2.3 assists in 26 games this season, but he’d had more success in the lower-level G league, where he put up 16.1 points and 10.1 rebounds over three seasons.
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