RIGGED: Feds Charge 26 In College Basketball Point-Shaving Scheme

Hopefully, this scheme didn’t cause your favorite teams to lose.

The Department of Justice has charged 26 people in a college basketball point-shaving scheme that involved nearly 40 players.

In the indictment, the DOJ further alleged that the men involved in the point-shaving scheme also influenced Chinese Basketball Association games.

CBS News reported more on the point-shaving scheme:

Federal prosecutors charged 26 people in an alleged point-shaving scheme involving dozens of college basketball players, authorities announced Thursday.

U.S. Attorney David Metcalf said the scheme involved 39 players and 17 different NCAA Division I men’s basketball teams, and alleged the conspiracy either fixed or attempted to fix 29 games.

“This was a massive scheme,” Metcalf told reporters during a news conference in Philadelphia. “It enveloped the world of college basketball.”

According to the indictment unsealed Thursday, players were allegedly bribed to tank games to enrich sports gamblers.

Some alleged attempts to fix games were unsuccessful for various reasons, including players who didn’t cooperate with the scheme or others who failed to make games go a certain way, Metcalf said.

“In basketball, one player could substantially influence a game in ways that in other sports you cannot, but it’s not a guarantee,” Metcalf said. “But by and large, the scheme was very successful.”

Here’s former college All-American Antonio Blakeney, who was one of the players charged:

BREAKING: Former college All-American Antonio Blakeney is among 17 basketball players charged in a point-shaving scheme to fix games in the NCAA and Chinese Basketball Association and rig bets, according to a newly unsealed indictment. https://t.co/hiLUypOPgi pic.twitter.com/CyYbb1e3o6

— ABC News (@ABC) January 15, 2026

DePaul players were also allegedly involved:

DePaul players brazenly texted about alleged point-shaving scheme before St. John’s blowout https://t.co/oFN5o1mETm pic.twitter.com/qgur0tZe3K

— New York Post (@nypost) January 15, 2026

Read the DOJ’s press release that provides more in-depth details on the scheme and those involved:

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.

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