According to the indictment unsealed today,pennsylvaniaFederal prosecutors have charged 20 people with fixing betting on college basketball and professional basketball games in China. This is the latest case to accuse athletes of cheating amid the growing popularity of legal sports betting in the United States.
Reuters reported that the 70-page indictment named more than 10 former college and professional basketball players, as well as those who had previously been involved in a large-scale NBA basketball scandal.NBATwo Internet celebrities in the sports betting industry were prosecuted in a trading case. They face charges of sports bribery, wire fraud and conspiracy.
PhiladelphiaFederal prosecutors allege that the manipulating scheme began in 2022, when several defendants began soliciting and bribing Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) players, requiring them to intentionally perform poorly in games to ensure that specific bets placed on their teams would be profitable.
Prosecutors pointed out that this manipulation scheme expanded to American college basketball in the 2023-2024 season, and the defendants bribed players to manipulate the results to ensure that the team’s final victory score was lower than the expected threshold set by the handicap.
Prosecutors say the rapid spread of legal sports betting has allowed traders to evade regulators by spreading their bets.
Two defendants, sports betting celebrities Shane Hennen and Marves Fairley, were charged last October with Miami Heat player Terry Rozier and former Cleveland Cavaliers guard Damon Jones for using inside information, including undisclosed player health reports, to manipulate NBA game betting. All four people pleaded not guilty in the case.
The charges were announced in Brooklyn federal court along with a related case involving more than 10 defendants, including Portland Trail Blazers head coach and NBA Hall of Fame star Chauncey Billups. He was accused of using high-tech equipment to manipulate illegal poker games. Billaps and his co-defendants have pleaded not guilty.
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