Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier was facing an $8 million tax lien around the same time he allegedly pulled himself from a 2023 NBA game that’s currently the focal point of an FBI gambling investigation, ESPN reported Tuesday, Oct. 28.
Court records obtained by ESPN in Broward County, Florida, show the Internal Revenue Service filed the $8,218,211 federal income tax lien against Rozier in November 2023.
Rozier has been charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering in an indictment released last week by a federal court in New York. He’s accused of being part of an illegal betting scheme by alerting gamblers he intended to fake an injury in order to make money off a prop bet related to his performance in a March 23, 2023, game between the Charlotte Hornets and New Orleans Pelicans.
Justice Department officials allege that more than $200,000 was bet on Rozier’s ‘under’ game totals in several statistical categories.
Rozier’s attorney, Jim Trusty, said in a statement to USA TODAY that his client is ‘not a gambler’ and he ‘looks forward to winning this fight.’
ESPN also uncovered records from Broward County showing a construction lien filed against Rozier in August 2022 for about $271,000 for a variety of work being done on Rozier’s $5.3 million property there. The records show $250,000 was paid by July 2023.
Rozier was one of 34 people indicted in two related gambling scandals that rocked the sports world last week.
The investigation also snared Portland Trail Blazers coach and Basketball Hall of Famer Chauncey Billups, and former Cleveland Cavaliers player and coach Damon Jones, who are accused of participating in a scheme to rig illegal poker games.
The NBA has placed Rozier and Billups on ‘immediate leave’ as the league continues to cooperate with law enforcement officials in the investigation.
