PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Federal prosecutors charged 20 people on Thursday, including 15 former college basketball players, in what they called a betting scheme to rig NCAA and Chinese Basketball Association games.
Click here to read the full indictment
Of the defendants, 15 played basketball for Division 1 NCAA schools as recently as the 2024-25 season. School included in the indictment are Nicholls State, Tulane, Northwestern State, St. Louis, La Salle, Fordham, DePaul, Robert Morris, Southern Miss, North Carolina A&T, Kennesaw State, Coppin State, New Orleans, Abilene Christian, Eastern Michigan and Alabama State.
Indictment - U.S. v. J. Smith et al
Information - U.S. v. Blakeney
Information - U.S. v. D. Smith
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.
The charges, filed in federal court in Philadelphia, include wire fraud.
In the 70-page indictment, authorities say the fixers recruited the college basketball players with “bribe payments” usually ranging from $10,000 to $30,000 per game.
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.