17 college basketball players charged in point-shaving scheme: Indictment

[ad_1] Former faculty All-American Antonio Blakeney is amongst 17 basketball gamers named in a point-shaving scheme to repair video games within the NCAA and Chinese language Basketball Affiliation and rig bets, in accordance with an indictment unsealed Thursday in Philadelphia.

The alleged scheme ran from September 2022 to February 2025 and defrauded varied sportsbooks and particular person bettors.

"The sportsbooks wouldn't have paid out these wagers had they identified that the defendants fastened these video games," the indictment stated.

In complete, 20 defendants are named within the indictment, together with basketball gamers who agreed, in trade for bribes, to repair NCAA and Chinese language Basketball Affiliation video games. So-called fixers who had been working the scheme then positioned huge bets on these video games.

"In inserting these wagers on video games that they had fastened, the defendants defrauded sportsbooks, in addition to particular person sports activities bettors, who had been all unaware that the defendants had corruptly manipulated the end result of those video games that ought to have been determined pretty, based mostly on real competitors and the very best efforts of the gamers," the indictment stated.

Two of the gamers named within the indictment, Cedquavious Hunter and Dequavion Quick, each of New Orleans, had been sanctioned in November by the NCAA for allegedly fixing video games.

Two different defendants, Marves Fairley and Shane Hennen, allegedly recruited Blakeney, an All-American faculty participant and a number one scorer within the CBA, providing bribe funds in trade for Blakeney underperforming in video games. Blakeney additionally allegedly recruited different gamers from his staff to hitch the scheme. Fairley and Hennen are additionally charged in a separate unlawful playing case involving the NBA.

After profiting on the fastened CBA video games, Fairley, Hennen and Blakeney allegedly turned their consideration to fixing NCAA males's basketball video games. Blakeney is called however not charged. Federal prosecutors famous a few of the defendants are "charged elsewhere."

They're accused of recruiting gamers who would assist guarantee their staff did not cowl the unfold of the primary half of a recreation or a whole recreation, the indictment stated. The fixers would then place wagers on these video games by means of sportsbooks, betting towards the staff whose participant or gamers that they had bribed to have interaction on this point-shaving scheme, the indictment stated.

The bribe funds ranged from $10,000 to $30,000 per recreation, a sum prosecutors stated exceeded most gamers' reputable alternative to become profitable by advertising and marketing their title, picture and likeness. The fixers additionally allegedly focused gamers on groups that had been underdogs in video games and sought to have them fail to cowl the spreads in these video games.