Federal authorities believe the referee at the center of the betting and game-fixing probe rocking the NBA will cooperate with investigators – and possibly name other officials or players involved in the scandal, law enforcement sources told the New York Daily News.

Saddled with large gambling debts, Tim Donaghy allegedly used mobbed-up bookies to place thousands of dollars in bets on games over the past two seasons, including contests he officiated, the sources said.

Two of the bookies are expected to be arrested this week after Donaghy surrenders to authorities in New York as early as Tuesday, the sources said.

Investigators do not yet know if the NBA gambling scandal extends beyond Donaghy, who has hired former federal prosecutor John Lauro as his defense attorney. The Tampa-based Lauro specializes in representing whistleblowers, the sources said.

“Who knows what he’ll say if he comes in,” a law enforcement source said.

New details of the growing scandal emerged on Saturday and painted a troubling picture of the 40-year-old Donaghy. The so-called family man, who hid his frightening temper and shady associates from public view, has been arrested twice for erratic and threatening behavior.

In June 2002, he was charged with disorderly conduct and harassment for nearly running a U.S. postal carrier off the road after the mailman accidentally knocked over a bin of recyclables in front of the ref’s Pennsylvania home.

“He was pretty nasty,” mail carrier Charles Brogan, 48, said as he recalled trying to make a delivery at Donaghy’s West Goshen house. “I just drove down the road. I thought, ‘No way I’m going back there.’ “

As Brogan attempted to drive his route, a screaming Donaghy chased him by hopping into his car and speeding after the postal truck, Brogan said.

“He kept cutting me off,” said Brogan, adding that Donaghy narrowly avoided ramming his truck several times.

Donaghy later came to the post office to apologize at least three times, but Brogan said he refused to talk to him. The criminal case was dropped because Brogan failed to show up for a court hearing.

David Boyle, a local cop, said Donaghy would often pepper his neighbors’ houses with golf balls that he hit from his backyard.

“He didn’t get arrested because nobody saw him do it,” Boyle said. “But there were divots all over the backyard.”

Donaghy was charged with harassing Dennis Van Zandt in Haverton Township, Pa., in June 1995. Van Zandt refused to discuss the incident for fear of retribution.

Federal authorities first heard Donaghy’s name on a wiretap during investigations into the Gambino crime family over the past year.

A Philadelphia wiseguy wanna-be is believed to have threatened to use his contacts in the Gambino family to hurt Donaghy if the ref – already known as a heavy gambler – did not share inside information and help fix games, sources said.

That gangster claimed he would expose Donaghy’s serious debts if he did not cooperate with the bookies, who allegedly won thousands of dollars with the referees’ help, sources said.