PHILADELPHIA — On Thursday, federal prosecutors charged 20 individuals, including 15 ex-college basketball athletes, in connection with an alleged scheme to manipulate outcomes in NCAA and Chinese Basketball Association games.

The indictment involves 15 former players who were part of NCAA Division 1 teams as recently as the 2024-25 season.

The remaining five individuals are described as fixers by authorities.

This group includes two men involved in basketball player training and development, a trainer who previously coached, a former NCAA athlete, and two individuals known as gamblers, influencers, and sports handicappers.

The charges, filed in federal court in Philadelphia, include wire fraud.

In the 70-page indictment, authorities say the fixers recruited the college basketball players with “bribe payments” usually ranging from $10,000 to $30,000 per game.

The indictment follows a series of NCAA investigations that led to at least 10 players receiving lifetime bans this year for bets that sometimes involved their own teams and their own performances. And the NCAA has said that at least 30 players have been investigated over gambling allegations.

More than 30 people were also charged in last year’s sprawling federal takedown of illegal gambling operations linked to professional basketball.

Concerns about gambling and college sports have grown since 2018, when the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a federal ban on the practice, leading some states to legalize it to varying degrees. The NCAA does not allow athletes or staff to bet on college games, but it briefly allowed student-athletes to bet on professional sports last year before rescinding that decision in November.

More broadly, one betting scandal after another has rocked the sports world, where gambling revenue topped $11 billion for the first three-quarters of last year, according to the American Gaming Association. That’s up more than 13% from the prior year, the group said.

This story is developing and will be updated as information becomes available. 

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