A group of 20 people have been charged in connection with rigging college basketball games, as well as games in China.
According to a federal indictment unsealed on Thursday in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, the scheme involves more than 39 college basketball players on more than 17 NCAA Division I teams.
It’s alleged that more than 29 games were fixed as part of the scheme that began around September 2022 and was initially focused on Chinese Basketball Association games.
The group later turned their attention to rigging college basketball games and would allegedly offer bribes to players between $10,000 and $30,000 to affect games to benefit gamblers. The charges, filed in federal court in Philadelphia, include wire fraud.
Of the defendants, 15 played basketball for Division 1 NCAA schools as recently as the 2024-25 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.
Marves Fairley is one of 20 players charged with rigging college and Chinese basketball games
Cedquavious Hunter (R) has been sanctioned by the NCAA for rigging New Orleans games
‘In placing these wagers on games they had fixed, the defendants defrauded sportsbooks, as well as individual sports bettors, who were all unaware that the defendants had corruptly manipulated the outcome of these games that should have been decided fairly, based on genuine competition and the best efforts of the players,’ the indictment said.
Two of those named, Cedquavious Hunter and Dyquavian Short, have already been sanctioned by the NCAA for rigging New Orleans games.
Meanwhile another two defendants, Shane Hennen and Marves Fairley, were charged in the the federal indictment in the Eastern District of New York that rocked the NBA back in October.
Former Chicago Bulls star Antonio Blakeney was named in the indictment but not charged. It says he was ‘charged elsewhere.’
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.
It also comes after the gambling scandal plunged the NBA into chaos back in October and led to the arrests of Miami guard Terry Rozier, Portland coach Chauncey Billups and others.
Rozier pleaded not guilty in December to wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy charges stemming from accusations that he helped some friends win bets that revolved around his statistical performance in a game played in March 2023, when he was with Charlotte.
Rozier is free on $3million bond and isn´t expected back in court until March, and he remains on unpaid leave from the Heat.
Terry Rozier is facing two felony charges for his alleged role in a massive NBA betting scandal
Chauncey Billups has pleaded not guilty in the illegal gambling case that has rocked the NBA
Prosecutors say Rozier informed the bettors that he intended to leave the game against the New Orleans Pelicans early with a supposed injury, allowing gamblers to place wagers earning them tens of thousands of dollars.
Rozier played the first nine minutes and 36 seconds of the game before leaving, citing a foot issue. He did not play again that season and was subsequently traded to the Heat.
Billups also pleaded not guilty in November to charges related to a separate scheme to fix high-stakes, Mafia-backed poker games.
Rozier, Billups and former NBA guard Damon Jones were among more than 30 people – including several Mafia figures – arrested as part of a sprawling federal takedown of illegal gambling operations linked to pro sports.
