Former NBA players indicted in alleged betting scheme with insider tips

Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn unsealed an indictment charging six people, including former NBA players Malik Beasley and Edward Davis, in a gambling scheme built on inside information and performance manipulation. The scheme involved bribes, betting markets and a network of people who used nonpublic information to place fraudulent wagers worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The indictment names Beasley, Davis, sports agent Paolo Zamorano, William Brown, Robert Gorodetsky and Ernesto Plascencia. The indictment says the group targeted at least four games during the 2023-24 NBA season, including a Milwaukee Bucks-Cleveland Cavaliers game on January 26, 2024. In that game, Beasley told Davis that he planned to fall short of his usual rebounding output, and Davis passed that information along so others could place bets built around the expected outcome.

U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr. said the defendants had “turned professional basketball into a criminal betting operation” and said the conduct “erode[s] the integrity of American sports and victimize[s] the sports-watching public.” The charges include wire fraud conspiracy, bribery in sporting contests, honest services wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy. The indictment says the wagering involved hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Beasley entered the NBA as the 19th overall pick in 2016 and became a nine-year veteran. Davis played for eight NBA teams and last appeared in the 2021-22 season, and Beasley most recently played with the Detroit Pistons in 2024-25 before the indictment. The National Basketball Association is reviewing the federal case.