In a shocking development, former NBA athletes Malik Beasley and Edward Davis, along with four others, were indicted in New York for their alleged involvement in a scheme to manipulate game performances for gambling profits. Federal prosecutors assert that Beasley was recruited into this conspiracy as a method to settle his gambling debts to Davis.
The other accused co-conspirators include William Brown, Robert Gorodetsky, Ernesto Plascencia, and Paolo Zamorano, a registered NBA player agent since 1995. They face serious charges, including conspiracy to commit wire fraud, bribery in sports, conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud, and conspiracy to launder money. According to unsealed court documents, this group allegedly conspired to bribe Beasley to perform poorly in games and share insider information to facilitate successful betting on specific prop bets.
As per the indictment, Davis was referred to as the “gatekeeper” to Beasley, with the conspiracy reportedly running from December 2023 to April 2024. Beasley, now 29, allegedly agreed to both underperform and overperform in various statistical categories during games, relaying this information to his co-conspirators through Davis. Prosecutors claim that bribes were often structured as reductions or settlements of Beasley’s gambling debts to Davis, which reportedly reached multi-million dollar losses.
Prosecutors indicated that “hundreds of thousands of dollars” in wagers were placed based on inside information regarding Beasley’s performance manipulation. Each defendant in this case faces a potential maximum sentence of 20 years for the wire fraud and money laundering charges, along with five years for the bribery offenses.
Interestingly, Beasley had previously been cleared of any wrongdoing in a separate investigation related to former NBA player Jontay Porter. Despite his average of 16.3 points per game in the 2024-25 season, Beasley found himself without a contract after the gambling allegations surfaced, vehemently asserting his innocence on social media.
The indictment also identifies three unnamed sportsbooks as victims of this scheme, with an assistant coach from a Division II men’s basketball team listed among the unindicted co-conspirators.
Details of specific games where Beasley allegedly manipulated outcomes have emerged, including a January 26, 2024, game against the Cleveland Cavaliers, where he reportedly informed Davis of his intention to underperform in rebounds, leading to successful fraudulent bets.
In that game, the Milwaukee Bucks lost to the Cavaliers 112-110, with Beasley recording just three rebounds in nearly 27 minutes of play, despite a betting line set at 3.5 rebounds.
Another instance occurred on February 27, 2024, against the Charlotte Hornets, where Beasley allegedly communicated his plan to underperform in points in exchange for a bribe.