Former players are among those charged in an alleged scheme to disrupt basketball games in the US and China.
Published on January 15, 2026
Federal prosecutors in the United States have indicted 20 people, including 15 former college basketball players, as part of a betting scheme to rig National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) games.
Of the defendants, 15 most recently played basketball for Division 1 NCAA schools during the 2024-2025 season.
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The other five defendants were described by authorities as fixers.
That includes two men who said Thursday they worked in the training and development of basketball players. The other was a coach and former coach, one a former NCAA player, and both were described as gamblers, influencers, and sports handicappers.
Some individuals have previously been charged in NBA-related gambling investigations.
Federal prosecutors in Philadelphia unsealed charges including conspiracy to commit bribery and wire fraud at sports events. They accuse the defendants of conspiring to fix the game from September 2022 to February 2025.
During the 2022-2023 CBA season, individuals attempted to “fix” men’s basketball games by “shaving points,” prosecutors allege in documents filed in the Eastern District Court of Pennsylvania. Point shaving is a form of cheating in which people try to manipulate the winning margin.
Nicholls State University, Tulane University, Northwestern State University, La Salle University, DePaul University, Robert Morris University, University of Southern Mississippi and North Carolina A&T State University are some of those accused of allegedly trying to target the game.
According to the indictment, players from Kennesaw State University, Coppin State University, University of New Orleans, Abilene Christian University, Eastern Michigan and Alabama State University were also targeted as part of the scheme.
In a 70-page indictment, authorities said the fixers recruited college basketball players with “bribe payments” that typically ranged from $10,000 to $30,000 per game.
The charges follow a series of NCAA investigations that led to at least 10 players being banned for life this year for bets involving their own teams and their own performances. And the NCAA said at least 30 players have been investigated over gambling allegations.
Also, a case has been registered against more than 30 people Federal withdrawals spread last year Illegal gambling operations related to professional basketball.