Federal prosecutors on Thursday charged 20 people, including 15 former college basketball players, in what they described as a betting scheme to manipulate NCAA and Chinese Basketball Association games.
Of those charged, 15 played basketball at NCAA Division I universities as recently as the 2024-2025 season.
The other five were described by authorities as intermediaries. Among them are two men who, according to prosecutors, worked in the training and development of basketball players. Another was a coach and former coach, one was a former NCAA player and two were described as gamblers, influencers and sports analysts.
The charges, filed in federal court in Philadelphia, include wire fraud.
In the 70-page indictment, authorities say middlemen recruited college players with “bribe payments” that typically ranged from $10,000 to $30,000 per game.
The indictment follows a series of NCAA investigations that this year led to at least 10 players receiving lifetime bans for bets that sometimes involved their own teams and their own performance. The NCAA has also said that at least 30 players have been investigated for gambling-related complaints.
More than 30 people were also charged last year in a sweeping federal operation targeting illegal betting rings linked to professional basketball.
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