(NEW YORK) — Cleveland Guardians pitcher Emmanuel Clase was arrested by FBI agents upon arriving at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York City on Thursday, as he surrendered following his indictment this month in connection with an alleged sports gambling scheme.
Clase, who had traveled from the Dominican Republic, is due in Brooklyn federal court Thursday afternoon for arraignment on the indictment charging him with rigging pitches so sports bettors could make hundreds of thousands of dollars in fraudulent bets.
Clase and fellow Guardians pitcher Luis Leandro Ortiz allegedly conspired with sports bettors to rig pitches they threw so the bettors would profit from illegal wagers, federal prosecutors in Brooklyn and the FBI said.
According to the indictment, Clase started conspiring with sports bettors in 2023 on specific pitches he would throw during MLB games. The bettors then used that information to place prop bets worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, the indictment says.
The bettors wagered on the speed and type of Clase’s pitches based on information they knew in advance by coordinating with Clase, sometimes even during MLB games, prosecutors said. Clase often threw these allegedly rigged pitches on the first pitch of an at-bat, investigators said. To ensure certain pitches were called as balls, Clase threw many of them in the dirt, well outside the strike zone, according to investigators.
In exchange, Clase received bribes and kickbacks, prosecutors said.
The indictment includes numerous examples of pitches that Clase allegedly rigged, including one in a game against the New York Mets. In total, by rigging pitches, Clase caused his co-conspirator bettors to win at least $400,000 in fraudulent wagers, according to investigators.
Ortiz allegedly joined the scheme in June 2025, according to the indictment, and allegedly agreed in advance to throw balls instead of strikes on pitches in two games in exchange for bribes and kickbacks.
He pleaded not guilty to several conspiracy charges at his arraignment in Brooklyn on Wednesday. Magistrate Judge Joseph Marutollo ordered Ortiz released on a $500,000 bond secured by his wife and a second surety to be named by next week.
The criminal investigations into Clase and Ortiz began after betting platforms noticed unusual activity during certain games or moments and/or after referrals from various professional sports leagues, the source told ABC News.
The news of this MLB betting probe comes after the Department of Justice recently unsealed indictments accusing Hall of Famer Chauncey Billups and former player Damon Jones of participating in rigged poker games, while Jones and current Miami Heat player Terry Rozier allegedly took part in illegal betting schemes.
A source familiar with the investigation told ABC News the case against Clase and Ortiz is not connected to the NBA indictment, and is also separate from an NCAA disclosure about six former college basketball players accused of allegedly rigging games.
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