X-ray glasses? All the 'mind-boggling' allegations in the FBI's NBA gambling probe

X-ray tables? Card-reading contact lenses? The ... Mafia?

No, it's not the plot of a George Clooney movie or even another Louvre heist. It's a massive, real-life illegal gambling probe involving players and coaches from the National Basketball Association and, yes, the Mafia.

The specific allegations in the FBI's investigation that's thrown the NBA into chaos are, to quote FBI director Kash Patel, "mind boggling."

"It's not thousands of dollars. It's not tens of thousands of dollars. It's not even millions of dollars. We're talking about tens of millions of dollars in fraud, in theft, in robbery, across a multi-year investigation," Patel told reporters.

On Thursday, the FBI announced it had conducted a "massive, nationwide takedown" of two separate and illegal poker and sports-betting schemes with ties to Mafia families. The schemes spanned years and involved illicit gains from wire fraud, money laundering, extortion and gambling, Patel said at a press conference in Brooklyn.

But what exactly are the allegations? We'll break it all down for you.

The indictments are related to two major cases. One involves sports betting, the other, rigged poker games.

U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr. said at the news conference that six defendants are accused of participating in an insider sports betting conspiracy that exploited confidential information about NBA athletes and teams.

The second case involves 31 defendants in a nationwide scheme to rig illegal poker games, Nocella said. The defendants include former professional athletes accused of using technology to steal millions from victims in underground poker games in the New York area that were backed by mafia families, he said.

U.S. Attorney’s Office spokesperson John Marzulli