Yasiel Puig Lost Over $1.5M Gambling With Illegal Bookie Wayne Nix, Court Hears

Former MLB player Yaciel Puig allegedly lost $1.5 million gambling over five months, a court heard on Wednesday. IRS Special Agent Christen Seymour told a jury in Los Angeles that he believed Puig racked up the huge losses with illegal California bookie Wayne Nix in 2019.

Puig is facing charges of obstruction of justice and making false statements in relation to the investigation of Nix. If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison.

Seymour told the court that the IRS had traced a $500,000 payment from Puig to shell companies affiliated with Nix’s illegal gambling business.

He also purchased two cashier’s checks of $100,000 in June 2019 to pay Nix through one of his clients. Despite those payments, he allegedly owed Nix an additional $980,000 before the bookie cut him off in September 2019.

Case Centers on 2022 Interview

Prosecutors claim Puig lied during a January 2022 interview. He allegedly told federal investigators that the $200,000 in cashier’s checks was to pay for a bet he lost on an unknown website.

He also said he didn’t know who had instructed him to buy the checks and make them out in someone else’s name. Nix reportedly told him to pay the money to another gambler he owed money to.

Seymour stated, “He said he lost some online bets and was told by an unknown person to make the checks out to” the other gambler’s name, as reported by CourthouseNews. “He made it clear he didn’t know who it was, and he was most certain it was by phone.”

However, investigators revealed text messages between Puig and two baseball coaches, who allegedly acted as his middlemen with Nix. The messages show that on the date he bought the cashier’s checks, one of them instructed him to make the checks out to Nix’s other client. In addition, investigators found a photo of the address label Puig had used to send the checks via UPS on Nix’s mobile phone.

Puig ‘Not Worth The Headache’

Nix told investigators that dealing with Puig had been a “disaster,” Seymour said. According to the prosecution, Nix cut ties with Puig because “he simply wasn’t worth the headache,” given that he was continually unwilling to pay his losses and yet demanded additional credit to lay more bets.

Seymour added that he had an agreement with Nix to pay when losses reached $100,000, but he allegedly failed to follow through and racked up far greater losses.

Puig originally agreed to a plea deal in the case, telling prosecutors he would plead guilty to one count of making a false statement to a federal agent and pay a $55,000 fine. However, he later backed out of the deal, and now faces heftier penalties.

Nix, on the other hand, cooperated more fully with investigators. He agreed to plead guilty to running a sports betting business in California. He is awaiting sentencing. Fellow unlicensed bookie Mathew Bowyer did the same and, in the end, received a one-year prison sentence.

High-Profile Clients Included Scottie Pippen

One of Bowyer’s most famous clients was Ippei Mizuhara, the former interpreter, who stole $17.5 million from Shohei Ohtani to fuel his gambling habit. Mizuhara is serving a 57-month prison sentence.

Court filings also identify another of Bowyer’s clients as “a professional baseball player for a Southern California baseball club.” The unnamed player allegedly placed bets on basketball, football, and hockey.

Prosecutors also say Puig, who played for the Southern California-based Los Angeles Dodgers for most of his career, placed his bets with Nix on basketball, football, and tennis.

In addition to Puig, Nix also served several high-profile customers. Seymour said he interviewed Scottie Pippen during the investigation. The former Chicago Bull initially refused to admit to placing illegal wagers, but eventually admitted to gambling with Nix. Due to his cooperation, he faced no charges in the case.

Maverick Carter, business manager for LeBron James, was also reported as another Nix client. Another LeBron associate, Damon Jones, is also embroiled in a gambling scandal. The former NBA player and coach allegedly fed information to bettors about Lakers lineups while working with LeBron during shooting practice. He has been released on bail after pleading not guilty in the wide-reaching scandal.

Puig’s court case remains ongoing and should reach its conclusion by next week.