Las Vegas local, Shane Hennen, finds himself at the center of a sprawling sports gambling and game-rigging controversy, following a federal indictment that laid charges against him and 19 others. Federal prosecutors have named him among several individuals involved in a scheme spanning from NCAA basketball to the hustle of Chinese Basketball Association games. According to a recent report by 8 News NOW, the group is accused of executing a point-shaving operation, where influential players were paid to deliberately underperform to affect the outcome of games and betting spreads.
The indictment, which was announced yesterday by the U.S. Attorney's Office in Eastern Pennsylvania, charges Hennen with three counts of wire fraud, one count of bribery in sporting contests, and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Allegations suggest he managed to carefully recruit players, including former NBA player Antonio Blakeney, to partake in the scheme designed to guarantee gambling winnings. "They would bribe said player to deliberately underperform so that his team would lose by more than they were favored to," explained U.S. Attorney David Metcalf, in a statement obtained by 8 News NOW.
Hennen's operation allegedly reached across international waters, with instances cited involving games of the Chinese Basketball Association. On occasions such as the March 6, 2023, game where the Guangdong Southern Tigers faced the Jiangsu Dragons, Hennen is accused of placing substantial wagers and paying players like Blakeney to ensure the predetermined outcome, as per a report by KTNV. Such incidents underline the reach and calculated nature of the operation.
In a twist to the unfolding narrative, the indictment extends beyond Hennen himself to more than 39 NCAA players across 17 teams – a blow to the sport's integrity. In his efforts to further conceal the gambling scheme, Hennen is said to even have utilized straw or proxy bettors to place bets on the fixed games, according to prosecutors. "In total, the fixers engaged in a point-shaving scheme involving more than 39 players on more than 17 different NCAA Division I men's basketball teams who then fixed and attempted to fix more than 29 NCAA Division I men's basketball games," from the indictment, as reported by KTNV.
Should he be found guilty, Hennen faces up to twenty years in prison for each wire fraud charge and five years for the bribery charge. These charges are not his initial run-in with the law in regards to sports gambling; he was previously implicated in a probe that resulted in over thirty arrests for rigged betting and money laundering.
