College Basketball Players Charged With Fixing Games to Win Bets
The indictment marks the latest federal action targeting athletes and sports figures accused of manipulating games for betting purposes.
Photographer: Christian Petersen/Getty ImagesMore than two dozen people, including college basketball players, were charged by federal prosecutors alleging a yearslong scheme to fix games in the US and China that generated millions of dollars in illegal wagers.
According to a sweeping indictment unsealed Thursday in Philadelphia, players in the Chinese Basketball Association allegedly started being bribed in September 2022 to shave points so that teams would fail to cover betting spreads. The scheme expanded the next year to National Collegiate Athletic Association teams, when US college players were recruited to intentionally underperform in games, prosecutors said.