More Than 2 Dozen Charged in Alleged Years-Long Scheme to Rig College Basketball Games

NEED TO KNOW

• More than a dozen college basketball players are among the 26 people who have been criminally charged in an alleged bribery and point-shaving scheme
• At a press conference in Philadelphia, U.S. Attorney David Metcalf said the "massive scheme" allegedly involved fixing or influencing NCAA Division I men’s basketball games and Chinese Basketball Association games
• According to prosecutors, the scheme ran from September 2022 to February 2025

More than a dozen college basketball players are among the 26 people who have been criminally charged in an alleged bribery and point-shaving scheme, federal authorities announced on Thursday, Jan. 15.

At a press conference in Philadelphia, U.S. Attorney David Metcalf for the Eastern District of Pennsylvaniasaid the scheme allegedly involved fixing or influencing NCAA Division I men’s basketball games and Chinese Basketball Association games.

Metcalf said the “massive scheme" that, in total, involved 39 players on more than 17 different NCAA Division I men's basketball teams "enveloped the world of college basketball," CBS News reported.

According to prosecutors, the scheme ran from September 2022 to February 2025 and involved “fixers” who allegedly recruited players to fix Chinese Basketball Association men’s basketball games and NCAA through point shaving.  

The fixers “bribed CBA players to underperform and help ensure their team failed to cover the spread in certain games and then arranged for large wagers to be placed on those games against that team,” according to a U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of Pennsylvania press release.

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The fixers also targeted NCAA men’s basketball games and enlisted players “to help them operate this scheme and recruit NCAA players who would accept bribes to influence games," the release states.

Prosecutors alleged the fixers — which included gamblers, sports handicappers, a former coach and a former NCAA player — attempted to rig more than 29 games.

They allegedly wagered millions of dollars, generating "substantial proceeds" for themselves and the players, who made “hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribe payments for fixing their teams’ basketball games,” according to the release.

The bribe payments allegedly ranged from $10,000 to $30,000 per game.

According to prosecutors, the fixers targeted college players who were “underdogs in games and sought to have them fail to cover the spreads in those games.”

“Many of these players accepted the offers and agreed to help fix specific games so that the fixers would win their wagers,” the release states.

CNN reported, citing prosecutors, that 15 of the basketball players charged in connection with the scheme played with Division I NCAA schools during the 2024-2025 season. Five other players participated in the NCAA’s 2023-2024 season. One other played in the Chinese Basketball Association in the 2022-2023 season, per the outlet, according to prosecutors.

Players charged include Simeon Cottle, Carlos Hart, Oumar Koureissi and Camian Shell, CNN reported.

Metcalf called the scheme “another blow to public confidence in the integrity of sport," which he said, "rests on the fundamental principles of fairness, honesty, and respect for the rules of competition."

"When criminal acts threaten to corrupt such a central institution of American life, the Department of Justice won’t hesitate to step in," he said, per the release.

Read the original article on People