NBA Gambling Scandal: at least $400,000 in ETH seized

A defendant named in a bombshell illegal gambling case involving NBA coach and hall of famer Chauncey Billups has seen at least $400,000 in ether (ETH) removed from his wallet, likely seized by the FBI.

Alleged money launderer, Anthony Shnayderman, had 100 ETH moved out of his wallet six days ago following a test transaction — a sign that suggests the FBI or another government entity has taken control of the wallet.

Shnayderman, who uses a Bored Ape as the avatar for his numerous social media accounts, has been anything but discreet about his involvement with illegal sports gambling and repeatedly reached out to individuals on X to assure them he could pick winners.

It’s unclear if anyone took him up on his offers.

Another crypto bro and X user “FreeMoose_NBA,” aka Mustafa Omar, was interviewed on the Pablo Torre Show months ago, describing what seems to be a crew of NBA-adjacent gamblers, launderers, and fixers.

Read more: Coinbase hacker panic-sold ETH during market crash at a $4.5M loss

Shnayderman sued OpenSea and PayPal

While allegedly cheating on sports bets and helping a crime syndicate move money, Shnayderman also paid attorneys to bring lawsuits against a number of major financial and cryptocurrency companies.

In 2022, after having money frozen in his personal PayPal account — a “restriction” was placed on approximately $130,000 in cash and crypto — for “alleged participation in gambling activities, and links to multiple accounts with limited access and unresolved negative balances,” Shnayderman brought a lawsuit against the company.

He sought over a million in dollars in punitive and compensatory damages.

In an ironic twist of fate, Shnayderman also filed a class action lawsuit against OpenSea, alleging that the platform was selling unregistered securities — “unregistered securities” he seemed quite proud to gloat about on Instagram and X.

The case was voluntarily dismissed.

Big crypto spender, zealous company creator

Shnayderman never portrayed himself as humble or soft spoken and seems to have upset his fair share of fellow cryptocurrency and NFT traders.

Indeed, at least one other Bored Ape buyer was convinced Shnayderman had ripped him off by buying his “forever ape” below the floor price after it was stolen by a bot.

Read more: BTC from 2011 moves after ‘Salomon Brothers’ repossession notice

Shnayderman purchased the bored Ape featured in his profile in 2022 for about $280,000 and it’s still in his account. Indeed, none of the NFTs in Shnayderman’s wallet have been put up for auction since the Department of Justice indicted him.

Interestingly, over the past few years, Shnayderman has taken to spinning up at least 50 companies in Florida, spending tens of thousands of dollars simply creating corporations.

These include consulting firms, restaurants, hospitality businesses, marketing companies, and numerous other types of organizations.