HARRISBURG, Pa. — A federal investigation into a sprawling betting scheme to fix basketball games stretched from the Chinese Basketball Association to the NCAA and has ensnared 26 people, including current and former college players, prosecutors revealed Thursday.
The charges filed in federal court in Philadelphia include bribery, wire fraud and conspiracy.
How did the scheme work?
A group of fixers, including gamblers, recruited players with the promise of a big payment in exchange for purposefully underperforming during a game, prosecutors said. Those fixers would then bet against the players' teams in those games, defrauding sportsbooks and other bettors, authorities said.
How did the players get paid?
In cash, hand-delivered by fixers after a game was successfully rigged, prosecutors say. That meant fixers flying into more than a dozen states to drop off cash to players on their campuses or while they were traveling between games.
How much money was involved?
Prosecutors didn't say exactly how much the fixers allegedly received in ill-gotten gains. However, they said that the fixers wagered millions of dollars, generating ''substantial proceeds'' for themselves, and paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to players in bribes.
