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The Ontario Provincial Police have opened an investigation into former Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter, Sportsnet can confirm.
OPP spokesperson Robert Simpson said the “investigation will focus on any criminal activity related to online betting irregularities arising from the Jan. 26, 2024, and March 20, 2024, Raptors games in Toronto.”
“This is an active and ongoing investigation,” Simpson added. “It would be inappropriate for the OPP to comment on specific details to protect the integrity of the investigation and any ensuing court processes.”
Porter was banned for life from the NBA on April 17 after a league probe alleged he disclosed confidential information to sports bettors and wagered on games, even betting on the Raptors to lose.
The investigation started once the league learned from “licensed sports betting operators and an organization that monitors legal betting markets” about unusual gambling patterns surrounding Porter’s performance in a game on March 20 against the Sacramento Kings.
The league determined Porter gave a bettor information about his own health status prior to that game and said another individual — known to be an NBA bettor — placed an $80,000 bet that Porter would not hit the numbers set for him in parlays through an online sports book. That bet would have won $1.1 million.
Porter took himself out of that game after less than three minutes, claiming illness, with none of his stats meeting the totals set in the parlay. The $80,000 bet was frozen and not paid out, the league said, and the NBA started an investigation not long afterwards.
Investigations in the U.S. have seen four men arrested in relation to the betting scandal.
— With files from The Associated Press