Federal indictments against over 20 people for rigging basketball games in the US, as well as “professional contests in the Chinese Basketball Association,” were announced today. Charges included “bribery in sporting contests” and “conspiracy to commit wire fraud”. These files allege that an estimated 29 college basketball games during the 2023-24 and 2024-25 seasons were rigged in a scandal involving over 17 Division I teams.
Filed in Pennsylvania, the indictment names 39 players, including more than a dozen former NCAA basketball players and a former NBA player. Some of the names on the list include: Alberto Laureano, Arlando Arnold, Simeon Cottle, Kevin Cross, Bradley Ezewiro, Shawn Fulcher, Carlos Hart, Markeese Hastings, Cedquavious Hunter, Oumar Koureissi, Da’Sean Nelson, Demond Robinson, Camian Shell, Dyquavion Short, Airion Simmons, and Jalen Terry.
Charges have also been made against Shane Hennen and Marves Fairley, two popular sports-betting influencers. Hennen and Fairley were previously charged with similar crimes back in October. They and others placed bets on NBA games after being given insider information, including “undisclosed player medical reports”.
According to court documents, fixers placed “millions of dollars in wages, and paid out hundreds of thousands in profits to athletes who participated in the scheme”. The scheme is said to have begun as early as 2022 in the Chinese Basketball Association before moving to the US. Ways the games were rigged include “point shaving”, which affects the final score, and betting “under” on expected player propositions for players involved.
This scandal is just one of many related to sports gambling in the last few years. Sports betting has exploded in popularity. Over 58 million people are estimated to engage in sport-related gambling in the United States each year. Basketball is the second most popular sport, with almost 38% of US adults having placed a bet during last year’s season. Additionally, an estimated “$3.1 billion will be bet on this year’s men’s and women’s NCAA tournaments during March Madness”, according to the AGA (American Gaming Association). That is a lot of money.
Those involved in this scandal aren’t the first to abuse the system, and they likely won’t be the last. The actions of these individuals threatened “the integrity of sport itself and everything sports represents to us, hard work, determination, and fairness,” according to David Metcalf, a US attorney involved in the case “[they] poisoned the American spirit of competition for monetary gain”.
