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01/15 10:50 CST Former NCAA players and fixers charged over rigged basketball
games, prosecutors say
Former NCAA players and fixers charged over rigged basketball games,
prosecutors say
By MARC LEVY and TASSANEE VEJPONGSA
Associated Press
PHILADELPHIA (AP) --- A sprawling betting scheme to rig NCAA and Chinese
Basketball Association games ensnared 26 people, including more than a dozen
college basketball players who tried to fix games as recently as last season,
federal prosecutors said Thursday.
The scheme generally revolved around fixers recruiting players with the promise
of a big payment in exchange for those players purposefully underperforming
during a game, prosecutors said. Then the fixers placed big bets against those
players' teams in those games, defrauding sportsbooks and other bettors,
according to the indictment unsealed Thursday.
Fixers started with two games in the Chinese Basketball Association in 2023
and, successful there, moved on to fixing NCAA games as recently as January
2025, authorities say. The "bribe payments" to players ranged from $10,000 to
$30,000 per game, authorities said.
Four of the players charged --- Simeon Cottle, Carlos Hart, Oumar Koureissi and
Camian Shell --- played for their current teams in the last few days, although
the allegations against them do not involve this season.
Calling it an "international criminal conspiracy," U.S. Attorney David Metcalf
told reporters in Philadelphia that this case represents a "significant
corruption of the integrity of sports."
Concerns about gambling and college sports have grown since 2018, when the U.S.
Supreme Court struck down a federal ban on the practice, leading some states to
legalize it to varying degrees. The NCAA does not allow athletes or staff to
bet on college games, but it briefly allowed student-athletes to bet on
professional sports last year before rescinding that decision in November.
Of the defendants, 15 played basketball for Division 1 NCAA schools during
2024-25 season, prosecutors say. Several of them are playing this season.
Five others last played in the NCAA in the 2023-24 season while another, former
NBA player Antonio Blakeney, played in the Chinese Basketball Association in
the 2022-23 season.
The other five defendants were described by authorities as fixers.
They include two men who prosecutors say worked in the training and development
of basketball players. Another was a trainer and former coach, one was a former
NCAA player and two were described as gamblers, influencers and sports
handicappers.
In many instances, the defendants' wagers on the fixed games were successful.
The sportsbooks paid out the winnings, and took losses, authorities say.
"The sportsbooks would not have paid out those wagers had they known that the
defendants fixed those games," the indictment said.
Meanwhile, other bettors unaware of the scheme lost money on their bets and
would not have placed those bets had they known about it, authorities say.
The charges, filed in federal court in Philadelphia, include bribery, wire
fraud and conspiracy.
One betting scandal after another has rocked the sports world, where gambling
revenue topped $11 billion for the first three-quarters of last year, according
to the American Gaming Association. That's up more than 13% from the prior
year, the group said.
The indictment follows a series of NCAA investigations that led to at least 10
players receiving lifetime bans this year for bets that sometimes involved
their own teams and their own performances. And the NCAA has said that at least
30 players have been investigated over gambling allegations. More than 30
people were also charged in last year's sprawling federal takedown of illegal
gambling operations linked to professional basketball.
___
Levy reported from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Associated Press writer Maryclaire
Dale in Philadelphia contributed.
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