Six individuals, including former National Basketball Association (NBA) players Malik Beasley and Edward Davis, and current NBA player agent Paolo Zamorano, have been charged in federal court in Brooklyn with wire fraud conspiracy, bribery in sporting contests, honest services wire fraud conspiracy, and money laundering conspiracy. The indictment alleges their involvement in a scheme to bribe Beasley to manipulate his performance in NBA games, using inside information to profit from illegal betting activity. Several defendants were arrested today and will be arraigned in the Eastern District of New York.
United States Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr. for the Eastern District of New York, and FBI Assistant Director in Charge James C. Barnacle, Jr., announced the arrests. Nocella said, "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." Barnacle added that Beasley "allowed himself to be bought and altered his gametime performance to line pockets of Ed Davis and his other co-conspirators."
The alleged scheme involved Beasley, then a player for the Milwaukee Bucks, agreeing with Davis to underperform or overperform specific betting statistics in games. In return for manipulating his performance, Beasley allegedly received bribes, often through the reduction or payment of his gambling debts to Davis. Davis, Zamorano, and other co-conspirators, including William Brown, Robert Gorodetsky, and Ernesto Plascencia, then used this non-public information to place fraudulent wagers, totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars, on Beasley's fixed performance.
Specific instances cited in the indictment include games on January 26, February 27, and March 10, 2024, where Beasley allegedly informed Davis of his intent to manipulate rebounding or points statistics. These details were then disseminated among co-conspirators to facilitate successful fraudulent wagers. If convicted, each defendant faces a maximum sentence of 20 years’ imprisonment for wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy counts, and five years for bribery in sporting contests. The defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.