The U.S. Department of Justice has charged Google software engineer Michele Spagnuolo with gaining over $1.2 million by using insider information to trade on Polymarket.
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20 NCAA players charged in biggest US point-shaving scandal
On January 15, 2026, U.S. federal prosecutors charged 20 former and current college basketball players in connection with a betting conspiracy that manipulated over 30 games in 17 NCAA Division I teams.
A Philadelphia grand jury indictment accused the players of taking part in an international criminal conspiracy that involved bribery and illegal sports betting linked to NCAA games and China’s professional basketball league games. As part of the scheme, players received payments to intentionally underperform so their teams wouldn’t cover betting point spreads.
U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, David Metcalf, said:
“This was a massive scheme. It enveloped the world of college basketball. It involves games in the playoffs and conference championships. It was a significant corruption of the integrity of sports.”
The charges were filed just a day after the NCAA urged the CFTC to ban prediction markets on college sports.
NCAA President Charlie Baker stated:
“Protecting competition integrity is of the utmost importance for the NCAA. Prop bets, generally, are probably one of the most corrosive elements and bad for sports betting for everybody. It’s brutal on the kids when they don’t hit the so-called prop or when they do. It creates terrible incentives for everybody.”
Authorities said the scheme began in 2022 with game manipulations in the Chinese Basketball Association and spread to U.S. college basketball. Ringleaders Shane Hennen and Marves Fairley are believed to have placed millions of dollars in bets on games they had fixed.
In a new post published on Truth Social, U.S. President Donald Trump has spoken out in support of CFTC-regulated prediction markets, praising the “new form of Financial...
