US charges 26 people with rigging college, Chinese basketball games

NEW YORK: Pennsylvania federal prosecutors on Thursday (Jan 15) announced charges against 26 people for allegedly rigging bets on college and Chinese professional basketball games, the latest case to accuse athletes of cheating at legalised sports betting that has exploded in popularity in the US. 

A 70-page indictment names more than a dozen former National Collegiate Athletic Association basketball players, a former NBA player and two sports-betting influencers who were previously charged in a sweeping NBA bet-rigging investigation. The charges include bribery in sporting contests, wire fraud and conspiracy. 

"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," said federal prosecutor David Metcalf.

"This was a massive scheme. It enveloped the world of college basketball," he told a press conference.

The indictment unveiled on Thursday says an illegal sports gambling network originated in China in or about September 2022.

Prosecutors allege that several of the defendants began recruiting and bribing Chinese Basketball Association players to intentionally underperform in games to ensure certain bets placed on their teams. 

Former NBA Chicago Bulls player Antonio Blakeney - who is named but not charged in the latest indictment - is alleged to have been recruited by conspirators to influence the outcomes of games in the Chinese Basketball Association league, where he was playing for the Jiangsu Dragons.

A package containing nearly US$200,000 in cash was allegedly left in Blakeney's storage unit in Florida at the end of the CBA 2022-23 season.

The scheme widened to US college