Former College Basketball Players Indicted Over Alleged Scheme to Fix Games

The charges filed in the case include bribery in sporting contests, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, and aiding and abetting.

The NCAA headquarters in Indianapolis is seen on March 12, 2020. Michael Conroy/AP Photo

The Department of Justice filed an indictment on Jan. 14, charging 20 people in an alleged scheme to rig collegiate and Chinese basketball games.

Those indicted in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania include former college basketball players Arlando Arnold, Simeon Cottle, Kevin Cross, Bradley Ezewiro, Shawn Fulcher, Carlos Hart, Markeese Hastings, Cedquavious Hunter, Oumar Koureissi, Da'Sean Nelson, Demond Robinson, Camian Shell, Dyquavion Short, Airion Simmons, and Jalen Terry.

Bettors Marves Fairley, Shane Hennen, and Alberto Laureano, and trainers Roderick Winkler and Jalen Smith were also charged.

The charges include bribery in sporting contests, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, and aiding and abetting.

All 20 face the first and second counts, while Fairley and Hennen also face the third and fourth charges.

From September 2022 through February 2025, the defendants allegedly took part in a scheme to influence games in the NCAA and the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA).

Beginning in or about September 2022, a group known as “the fixers” recruited and bribed players to help influence CBA games through “point shaving” during the 2022–2023 season, according to the indictment.

Point shaving is where athletes deliberately influence the margin of victory in a contest.

The indictment said that “the fixers bribed [Chinese Basketball Association] players to underperform and help ensure their team failed to cover the spread in certain games and then, through various sportsbooks, arranged for large wagers to be placed on those games against that team.”

Fairley and Hennen also allegedly recruited a player on the Jiangsu Dragons, Antonio Blakeney, to score less than he usually does in games in exchange for bribes.

This would influence the games the Dragons play and allow for bettors in the scheme to make winning bets, the indictment said.

Blakeney has not been charged.

In a game on March 6, 2023, the Dragons played the Guangdong Southern Tigers. The latter team was 11.5-point favorites at sportsbooks in the United States and abroad.

Fairley and Hennen placed large wagers with numerous sportsbooks on the Southern Tigers to cover the spread, according to the indictment.

Blakeney, who averaged more than 32 points per game during the season, scored only 11 points as the Southern Tigers beat the Dragons, 127–96.

Fairley and Hennen won their bets.

In a game nine days later, the Dragons played the Zhejiang Golden Bulls, who were 15-point favorites.

According to the indictment, Blakeney allegedly told Fairley and Hennen that he would not play, and that a fellow player of his, who is unnamed in the indictment, would accept a bribe to ensure the opponent covered the spread.

The Golden Bulls won 121–80, covering the spread and leading to Fairley and Hennen winning their wagers.

The Epoch Times has reached out to the Chinese Basketball Association for comment.

When it came to the NCAA, Fairley and Hennen, along with Blakeney, “enlisted additional participants to help them operate this aspect of the scheme and to recruit NCAA players who would accept bribes to influence games,” according to the indictment.

Winkler and Laureano were among those enlisted.

The alleged scheme happened during the 2023–2024 and 2024–2025 seasons. There were more than 39 players recruited who allegedly fixed and attempted to rig more than 29 games.

“To capitalize on this scheme, the fixers made wagers totaling millions of dollars, generating substantial proceeds for the fixers and the players who collectively received hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribe payments for fixing their teams’ basketball games,” said the indictment.

“The point-shaving scheme corrupted the integrity of NCAA college sporting contests and the sportsbooks accepting wagers on those contests and caused sportsbooks and individual sports bettors to suffer financial losses.”

In a long statement on Jan. 15, NCAA President Charlie Baker did not address the indictment directly, but called on states to ban risky bets. He also provided an update on its betting integrity investigations.

It is publicly unknown who is representing the defendants.