Malik Beasley Charged With Bribery, Money Laundering, And Wire Fraud In Alleged Prop-Bet Scheme

Malik Beasley has been indicted by federal prosecutors, on charges related to suspicious gambling activity. According to earlier reporting, authorities began looking at Beasley last summer after at least one U.S. sports book noted unusual betting interest on Beasley’s statistical production. The suspicious activity reportedly took place during the 2023–24 NBA regular season, when Beasley was a member of the Milwaukee Bucks. Shams Charania reported Monday that the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York is currently working to coordinate Beasley’s voluntary surrender sometime this week.

You can lose your mind considering too closely the words chosen by Charania in one of his news releases, but in this case you would be right to zero in on “point shaving and prop bets.” The indictment, unsealed Monday, names Beasley, former NBA forward Ed Davis, and four co-conspirators, including current player agent Paolo Zamorano, and charges them with “wire fraud conspiracy, bribery in sporting contests, honest services wire fraud conspiracy, and money laundering conspiracy,” and describes a bribery scheme in which Beasley manipulated his performance in order to rig illegal bets. In an announcement to his office’s website, U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr. accuses Beasley and his co-conspirators of seeking “to corrupt sports through illegal means.”

“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. 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.”