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A massive betting scheme to rig National Collegiate Athletic Association Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) games ensnared 26 people, including more than a dozen college basketball players, who tried to fix games last season, federal prosecutors said Thursday.
Prosecutors said the scheme often revolved around fixers recruiting players and promising large payments in exchange for deliberately poor performance in games. Authorities say fixers would place large bets on players’ teams in these games, defrauding sportsbooks and other bettors.
Concerns about gambling and college sports have grown since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned federal bans on gambling and college sports in 2018, leading some states to legalize it to varying degrees. The NCAA does not allow players or staff to bet on college games, but it briefly allowed student-athletes to bet on professional sports last year before reversing that decision in November.
According to the indictment unsealed Thursday, the fixers began with two Chinese Basketball Association games in 2023 and were successful, beginning to fix NCAA games as recently as January 2025.
Prosecutors said the fixers’ scheme involved more than 39 players on more than 17 different NCAA Division I men’s basketball teams, who then rigged and attempted to fix more than 29 games. Prosecutors said they bet millions of dollars to make “huge profits” for themselves and paid hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes to players, typically paying players $10,000 to $30,000 per game.
The four players charged – Simon Cotter, Carlos Hart, Omar Quresi and Kamian Sher – played for their current teams in the past few days, although the charges against them do not relate to the current season.
U.S. Attorney David Metcalf told reporters it was an “international criminal conspiracy.” Philadelphia The case represents a “serious corruption of sporting integrity”. The indictment indicates that numerous others — including unnamed players — were involved in the scheme but have not been charged, and Metcalf said the investigation continues.
Prosecutors said 15 of the defendants played basketball for NCAA Division I schools during the 2024-25 season. Five other players last played in an NCAA game in the 2023-24 season, as well as one former NBA Player Antonio Blakeney will play for the Chinese Basketball Association in the 2022-23 season.
The remaining five defendants were described as “fixers” who recruited players and placed their bets. They included two men who prosecutors said worked in the training and development of basketball players. Another is a coach and former coach, one is a former NCAA player, and the other two have been described as gamblers, influencers and sports handicaps.
Court documents say one mediator texted another that “there are no guarantees in this world except death taxes and Chinese basketball.”
At the conclusion of the Chinese Basketball Association’s 2022-23 season, the fixers deposited nearly $200,000 in bribes and winnings shared through game-fixing into Blakeney’s locker in Florida, authorities said.
Players also helped fix the game by recruiting other players, authorities said. In many cases, defendants’ bets on rigged games were successful. “Had the sportsbooks known that the defendants had rigged these games, they would not have paid out these bets,” the lawsuit states.
The charges, filed in federal court in Philadelphia, include bribery, wire fraud and conspiracy.
One gambling scandal after another has rocked the sports world, with gambling revenue topping $11 billion in the first three quarters of last year, according to the American Gaming Association. The organization said that number was up more than 13% from last year.
The NCAA has conducted a series of investigations that resulted in at least 10 players being banned for life this year for betting that sometimes involved their own teams and their own performances. The NCAA said at least 30 players are under investigation over gambling allegations. More than 30 people have been charged in a massive federal crackdown on illegal gambling related to professional basketball last year.
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Levy reports from Harrisburg, pennsylvania. Associated Press writer Maryclaire Dale in Philadelphia contributed.
