Former National Basketball Association Players, Current Player Agent, and Three Other Individuals Charged in Sports Bribery, Illegal Betting and Money Laundering Conspiracies

 

Defendants Allegedly Bribed NBA Player Co-Defendant to Manipulate His Game Performance in Order to Place Fraudulent Wagers Worth Hundreds of Thousands of Dollars

Earlier today, in federal court in Brooklyn, an indictment was unsealed charging six defendants — former National Basketball Association (NBA) players Malik Beasley and Edward Davis, and co-conspirators William Brown, Robert Gorodetsky, Ernesto Plascencia, and current NBA player agent Paolo Zamorano—with wire fraud conspiracy, bribery in sporting contests, honest services wire fraud conspiracy, and money laundering conspiracy for their alleged roles in a scheme to bribe Beasley to manipulate his performance in NBA games and use inside information about Beasley’s intended performance to profit via illegal betting activity.  Several of the defendants were arrested today at locations across the country and will be arraigned in the Eastern District of New York at a later date.

Joseph Nocella Jr., United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, and James C. Barnacle, Jr., Assistant Director in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office (FBI), announced the arrests and indictment.

“As alleged, the defendants turned professional basketball into a criminal betting operation, bribing then-NBA player Malik Beasley to fix his performance in multiple games in order to place fraudulent wagers, enrich themselves and cheat legitimate sportsbooks,” stated United States Attorney Nocella.  “Bribery and insider betting schemes like this one involving former NBA players and a current NBA player agent who exploited inside NBA information for profit erode the integrity of American sports and victimize the sports-watching public.  Our Office will continue in its strong tradition of holding accountable anyone who seeks to corrupt sports through illegal means.”  

Mr. Nocella thanked the FBI Field Offices in Charlotte, North Carolina; Los Angeles, California; Omaha, Nebraska; Chicago, Illinois; and Las Vegas, Nevada, for their valuable assistance.

“These defendants allegedly operated an illegal betting ring in an attempt to unlawfully earn hundreds of thousands of dollars. As alleged, Malik Beasley allowed himself to be bought and altered his gametime performance to line pockets of Ed Davis and his other co-conspirators. The FBI continues to dismantle fraudulent schemes that erode the integrity of any institution, including our nation's professional sports leagues,” stated FBI Assistant Director in Charge Barnacle.

As alleged, Beasley, then a player for the Milwaukee Bucks, agreed with his former NBA teammate Davis (known to the other co-defendants as Beasley’s “gatekeeper”) in advance of NBA games that Beasley would underperform, and at times overperform, relative to one or more of his betting statistics in those games.  Davis, Brown, Gorodetsky, Plascencia, Zamorano and other co-conspirators subsequently used this non-public information relating to Beasley’s intended performance to place fraudulent wagers conditioned on Beasley’s performance in the games at issue, all with the intention of profiting off the scheme.  As further alleged, in return for performance fixing, Beasley received bribes from the co-conspirators, typically by having Beasley’s gambling debts to Davis reduced or paid off. 

Examples of some of the influenced games are described below.

January 26, 2024 Milwaukee Bucks vs. Cleveland Cavaliers

As alleged, prior to the Bucks game against the Cleveland Cavaliers on January 26, 2024, Beasley informed Davis that he intended to underperform with respect to rebounding in the game.  Beasley provided this information to Davis to obtain a promised bribe payment and for the purpose of enabling Davis and other co-conspirators to place wagers based on this non-public information.  Davis subsequently disseminated the non-public information regarding Beasley to multiple co-conspirators, including Gorodetskty, Plascencia and Zamorano, to enable them to place fraudulent wagers. Plascencia then provided this same non-public information to Brown to enable him to place fraudulent wagers. Many of the fraudulent wagers were successful.

February 27, 2024 Milwaukee Bucks vs. Charlotte Hornets Game

As alleged, prior to the Bucks game against the Charlotte Hornets on February 27, 2024, Beasley informed Davis that Beasley intended to underperform with respect to points and overperform with respect to rebounding in the game.  Beasley provided this information to Davis to obtain a promised bribe payment and for the purpose of enabling Davis and other co-conspirators to place wagers based on this non-public information.  Davis subsequently disseminated the non-public information regarding Beasley to multiple co-conspirators, including Gorodetskty, Plascencia and Zamorano, to enable them to place fraudulent wagers.  Plascencia then provided this same non-public information to Brown to enable him to place fraudulent wagers.  Many of the fraudulent wagers were successful.

March 10, 2024 Milwaukee Bucks vs. Los Angeles Clippers

As alleged, prior to the Bucks game against the Los Angeles Clippers on March 10, 2024, Beasley informed Davis that Beasley intended to overperform with respect to rebounding in the game.  Beasley provided this information to Davis to obtain a promised bribe payment and for the purpose of enabling Davis and other co-conspirators to place wagers based on this non-public information.  Davis subsequently disseminated the non-public information regarding Beasley to multiple co-conspirators, including Gorodetskty, Plascencia and Zamorano, to enable them to place fraudulent wagers. Plascencia then provided this same non-public information to Brown to enable him to place fraudulent wagers. Many of the fraudulent wagers were successful.

In total, the defendants and their co-conspirators placed fraudulent wagers totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars conditioned on Beasley’s fixed performance in the influenced games at issue via multiple betting operators.

The charges in the indictment are allegations and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.  If convicted, each defendant faces a maximum sentence of 20 years’ imprisonment on the wire fraud conspiracy counts, 20 years’ imprisonment on the money laundering conspiracy count and five years’ imprisonment on the bribery in sporting contests count.  

The government’s case is being handled by the Office’s Business and Securities Fraud Section.