26 People Charged In Alleged Bribery And Point-Shaving Scheme To Fix NCAA, CBA Men’s Basketball Games

The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Philadelphia released the information below on January 15th:

PHILADELPHIA – At a news conference this morning, United States Attorney David Metcalf announced charges against 26 people in connection with an alleged bribery and point-shaving scheme to fix NCAA Division I men’s basketball games and Chinese Basketball Association games.

U.S. Attorney Metcalf discussed the case alongside FBI Deputy Director Andrew Bailey and FBI Philadelphia Special Agent in Charge Wayne Jacobs.

“The stakes here are far higher than anything on a bet slip. The criminal charges we have filed allege the criminal corruption of collegiate athletics through an international conspiracy of NCAA players, alumni, and professional bettors,” said U.S. Attorney Metcalf. “It’s also yet another blow to public confidence in the integrity of sport, which 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.”

“Over the past two years, the FBI’s Philadelphia Field Office led an investigation into a point-shaving and sports-bribery conspiracy resulting in the indictments announced today,” said FBI Deputy Director Andrew Bailey. “This case reflects the FBI’s unwavering commitment to protecting the American people and the institutions they trust. I am proud of the outstanding work of the FBI teams involved in the case. To those who choose corruption and betrayal: we will find you, we will investigate you, and we will hold you accountable.”

“Today’s arrests and charges would not have been possible without the tireless efforts of our agents, analysts, and professional staff whose expertise, persistence, and commitment to justice over the past two years were the driving force behind this investigation,” said Wayne A. Jacobs, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Philadelphia. “Let this be a clear warning to professional and collegiate athletes, and to anyone who seeks to manipulate them — there is nowhere to hide — the short-term gain will never be worth the long-term loss.”

As alleged in an indictment and other filings unsealed this morning, the scheme was led by “fixers” Jalen Smith, 30, of Charlotte, North Carolina; Marves Fairley, 40, of Carson, Mississippi; Shane Hennen, 40, of Las Vegas, Nevada, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Antonio Blakeney, 29, of Kissimmee, Florida; Roderick Winkler, 31, of Little Rock, Arkansas; and Alberto Laureano, 24, of Bronx, New York.

The indictment alleges that, beginning in or about September 2022, a group of individuals, including defendants Fairley and Hennen, worked together to recruit and bribe players to help influence or “fix” Chinese Basketball Association (“CBA”) men’s basketball games through point shaving. The fixers, including Fairley and Hennen, 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.

During the 2022-2023 CBA season, the indictment further alleges, the fixers, including Fairley and Hennen, recruited defendant Blakeney, then a player on the CBA’s Jiangsu Dragons (“Jiangsu”) and one of the league’s leading scorers, for their point-shaving scheme. Blakeney agreed to participate in the scheme and then recruited other players from his team to join the scheme, working together with the fixers to influence the outcome of Jiangsu games.

In or about April 2023, at the conclusion of the CBA regular season, the indictment alleges that defendant Fairley left a package containing nearly $200,000 in cash, representing bribe payments and proceeds from the scheme, in Blakeney’s storage unit in Florida.

The indictment further alleges that, after profiting on the fixed CBA games, the fixers, including Fairley and Hennen, along with Blakeney, turned their attention to fixing NCAA men’s basketball games. The three men enlisted additional participants, including defendants Smith, Winkler, and Laureano, to help them operate this scheme and recruit NCAA players who would accept bribes to influence games.

As alleged, during the 2023-2024 and 2024-2025 NCAA men’s basketball seasons, the fixers, including defendants Smith, Fairley, Hennen, Winkler, Laureano, and Blakeney agreed to recruit NCAA players who would help ensure that their team failed to cover the spread of the first half of a game or an entire game. The fixers would then place wagers on those games, betting against the team whose player or players they had bribed to engage in this point-shaving scheme.

Defendants Smith, Fairley, Hennen, Winkler, Laureano, and Blakeney approached and communicated with NCAA basketball players, in person and through social media, text message communications, and cellular telephone calls, the indictment alleges, with the fixers offering the players bribe payments, usually ranging from $10,000 to $30,000 per game, to participate in the scheme.

The indictment alleges that the fixers specifically targeted college players for whom the bribe payments would meaningfully supplement, or exceed, the student-athletes’ legitimate opportunities for “Name-Image-Likeness” compensation. The fixers also generally targeted for their scheme players on teams that 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 indictment alleges that the defendant fixers engaged in a point-shaving scheme involving, in total, more than 39 players on more than 17 different NCAA Division I men’s basketball teams who then fixed and attempted to fix more than 29 NCAA 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. When the fixers were successful with their wagers on fixed games, the indictment further alleges, defendant Smith and other co-schemers traveled to NCAA campuses and made cash bribe payments to the players who had agreed to participate in the point-shaving scheme.

A list of all defendants and the charges against them is linked below.

If convicted on a bribery in sporting contests charge, the maximum possible sentence a defendant would face is five years of imprisonment, three years of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine. Each count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud brings a maximum possible sentence of 20 years of imprisonment, three years of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine, if convicted.

This case was investigated by FBI Philadelphia and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Louis D. Lappen and Jerome M. Maiatico.

Anyone who believes they may have information about these crimes and would like to report the information is asked to call FBI Philadelphia at 215-418-4000 and reference “NCAA point-shaving.”

Mr. Metcalf also thanked the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York and the FBI’s New York Field Office for their valuable assistance with the investigation.

The charges and allegations contained in the charging documents are merely accusations. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty in court.