26 charged in latest US basketball scandal, scheme started in China, prosecutors say
US prosecutors charge 26 involved in sweeping transnational conspiracy, say scheme started with Chinese Basketball Association, spread to NCAA
One of the men behind a sweeping basketball match-fixing scheme told a co-conspirator the only certainties in life were “death, taxes and Chinese basketball”, US federal prosecutors revealed on Thursday.
Twenty-six people have been charged with fixing US college and Chinese professional basketball games in an alleged transnational criminal conspiracy, federal prosecutors said.
The indictment, filed in Philadelphia, includes bribery charges and relates to nearly 30 games in which conspirators allegedly placed huge bets on the scores of contests after paying players to underperform.
Some 15 players from 17 college teams were allegedly involved in the scheme from 2022 through 2025, as were two gamblers – Shane Hennen and Marves Fairley – who were indicted in October for their alleged role in an NBA sports betting scheme that included Miami Heat star Terry Rozier and Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups.
“We allege an extensive international criminal conspiracy of … players, alumni and professional bettors who fixed games across the country and poisoned the American spirit of competition for monetary gain,” David Metcalf, a federal prosecutor, said. “This was a massive scheme. It enveloped the world of college basketball.”
It is the latest scandal to rock the world of US sports, after two sprawling federal investigations resulted in the arrest of an NBA coach and player in October.