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Donald Trump’s hush money trial – CNN
The post Donald Trump’s hush money trial – CNN first appeared on Trump And Trumpism – The News And Times.
(NewsNation) — A Brooklyn man who had been charged but not publicly named as a defendant in a federal wire fraud case that led the NBA to ban former Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter for life surrendered Friday and was scheduled to make his initial court appearance in New York.
Ammar Awawdeh became the fourth person to be publicly identified in the case. Timothy McCormack, Mahmud Mollah, and Long Phi Pham were previously listed by name in a federal complaint involving the men placing wagers based on tips they received from a player about plans to leave NBA games early.
Until Friday, Awawdeh’s name was redacted from the federal complaint before he surrendered to authorities.
Pro athletes understand gambling on their games is a non-negotiable no-no. Some learned the hard way
Porter has not been named publicly by prosecutors. However, details, including game dates that are included in the federal complaint that mention “Player 1,” line up with when Porter was banned by the NBA in April.
A league investigation revealed that Porter violated NBA rules by providing confidential information to sports bettors. The league determined that Porter also limited his own participation in games and bet on NBA games.
In an unredacted complaint released on Friday, Awawdeh is listed as a Brooklyn resident. Pham is also listed as a Brooklyn resident, while the complaint states McCormick lives in New York City and that Mollah resides in Lansdale, Pennsylvania.
Prosecutors allege that the four men were part of a scheme to get “Player 1” to take himself out of games for them to win bets against his performance.
In one instance, the federal complaint states that “Player 1” sustained a purported eye injury during a game. The player was evaluated by a team doctor and diagnosed with a corneal abrasion. However, the complaint states that the player did not complain about the injury and was never placed on the NBA’s injury list.
The complaint states that four days later, “Player 1” communicated with the two of the defendants and indicated that he would be removing himself from the game, claiming he was injured. The player left the game after playing just four minutes without scoring.
The complaint states that there is no video evidence to suggest that the player sustained any contact to his eye nor did he reaggravate a previous injury,
McCormack won more than $33,000 in bets from that game, the complaint states.
In March, “Player 1” communicated with the men, according to the complaint, telling the group that he would be leaving that night’s game early due to illness. As part of the communication, the men agreed on a profit-sharing agreement for money made on bets made on the player’s performance that night, the complaint states.
Mollah’s bets on the March 20 game netted over $1.3 million, the complaint states. It said Pham, the player and Awawdeh were each supposed to get about a quarter of those winnings, and McCormack a 4% cut, before a betting company got suspicious and blocked Mollah from collecting most of the money.
According to the complaint, “Player 1” amassed significant gambling debts by the beginning of 2024, and Awawdeh prodded him to clear his obligations by doing a “special” — their code for leaving certain games early to ensure the success of bets that he’d underperform expectations.
After the NBA and others began investigating, the player warned Pham, Mollah and Awawdeh via an encrypted messaging app that they “might just get hit w 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.
The Associated Press contributed reporting to this story.
Mary Helene Hall
- I bought tickets to see Chappell Roan on resale site SeatGeek and spent over $600 to go see her.
- At the door, we learned our tickets were useless and would not get us into the show.
- We had a fun night with other fans whose tickets didn’t work, but I’m still disappointed.
When I first heard Chappell Roan’s “Pink Pony Club,” I knew that she was bringing something special to the pop scene.
That’s why, when I learned she’d be visiting my best friend’s city for her Midwest Princess tour, I booked my flight to Madison, Wisconsin.
In May, I purchased tickets to see her at The Sylvee from the resale website SeatGeek. Shortly after, SeatGeek sent me an email explaining that, due to a “security policy at The Sylvee,” my tickets would be delivered outside of the SeatGeek app. I’d get an email with a link to accept my ticket.
I received an email from a separate address that said my tickets had been shared with me. I clicked a link to accept my tickets, and I assumed I was set.
After all, the blue tickets were added to my digital wallet and had a moving line in front of the barcode, like many tickets I’ve had do. They looked perfectly normal and even had info about the show and “Screenshots won’t get you in the door” printed along the bottom.
After spending about $640 on airfare on travel from Alabama, concert tickets, an outfit for the show, Uber rides, and more, I was told at the door that we’d been duped.
But what resulted from that was an unexpected night that I will probably never forget.
We found out at the gate that our tickets would not get us into the show
The ticket I had (right) looked pretty real to me.
Courtesy of Mary Helene Hall
When we arrived at The Sylvee and made our way to the end of a line that wrapped around the block, we could feel the excitement in the air.
My friend and I noted it was weird to see so many people dressed up in mermaid garb — the theme of this Chappell Roan show — who were holding signs asking to buy tickets. Why would so many people show up ready to go to a show if they couldn’t get in?
Still, I walked through security, held out my digital ticket, and watched the ticket scanner flash red. The attendant told us to head to the box office, where we were told we were victims of a massive ticket scam. The tickets we’d been transferred from a third party were unscannable and useless.
We joined the group of about 80 people outside the venue who had also just realized they weren’t getting to see one of the hottest concerts of the summer.
Our group of disappointed fans decided to turn the night around
We didn’t see Chapelle Roan live, but we made the most of our night.
Taylor Hill/Getty Images
Outside the venue, our group of upset people with worthless tickets decided to find something else to do together. After all, we’d gotten dressed up.
Before I knew it, we were in a caravan of around 30 mermaids making our way to the nearest bar. Someone got the bartender to play Chappell Roan’s discography and ordered us all a round of shots.
What ensued was a night of singing and dancing to our “favorite artist’s favorite artist,” cursing third-party ticket vendors, and making new friends. As others learned their tickets were useless that night, they found out about our impromptu party and joined us.
Without this experience, I would’ve probably had a miserable night.
I got my money back, but I’m still disappointed
Everyone thinks they’re smart enough not to get duped until they are — including me. I was mortified, but the sheer number of people I met who had also bought tickets that wouldn’t work helped me realize there wasn’t much we could’ve done to avoid this.
We bought tickets from what I consider to be a more reputable resale platform, not some random person on Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist.
In my case, SeatGeek has a Buyer Guarantee, so I was quickly issued a full refund. But that doesn’t change the fact that I missed out on something that I paid to travel over 1,000 miles to experience.
It’s just another part of the conversation about how flawed ticketing for live events has become.
Last year, Taylor Swift fans who got nonexistent tickets to The Eras Tour faced issues similar to mine but struggled to get refunds. Earlier this year, the Department of Justice filed an antitrust lawsuit against Live Nation Entertainment (the parent company of Ticketmaster), accusing it of unlawfully dominating the market.
SeatGeek has not explained to me what went wrong, and I don’t think I’ll ever know for sure.
Looking back, it was odd that someone could just send me a link, and I’d get their tickets. Maybe the original tickets were real but the seller never fully transferred them to me at all. Or maybe they were really good fakes all along.
But what I’ve taken away from this experience is that it’s easy to get unscannable tickets that look legitimate — and it’s crucial to make sure you obtain possession of the original event tickets if they were initially sold through Ticketmaster.
Personally, though, I won’t be buying tickets for a concert across the country again unless I can absolutely guarantee I will get in the door.
Representatives for SeatGeek and The Sylvee didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Read the original article on Business Insider
