Want £200 Free? Click here to visit Bet365 and claim your free money.
During our stay in Singapore we got in touch with a member of the match-fixing syndicate that prefers to remain anonymous.  He told us that Wilson Raj Perumal, currently detained in Hungary after spending a year in Finnish prison, was interested in speaking to us.  We gave the person our address.

From Hungarian prison, Wilson began a daily correspondence with us in which he stated his reasons for speaking to the press and in which he explained the workings of the Singaporean match-fixing syndicate of which he is a self-proclaimed shareholder.

“I am Wilson Raj Perumal”, he wrote, “I am presently in custody in Hungary”.

“I believe you are aware I am now at ‘war’ with Tan Seet Eng (the most wanted man in Italy) at the moment”.

Wilson stated that it was the boss of the match-fixing syndicate and his former superior, a Singaporean called Tan Seet Eng (aka Dan Tan), that set him up to be arrested by Finnish police while he was traveling to Helsinki on a false passport.  Wilson added:  “The Finnish police had passed a passport copy of Joseph Xie Tan to Mr. Chis Eaton of FIFA.  Mr. Eaton then did his investigation and noted Xie Tan was present together with Anthony in Anatolia.  Mr. Eaton then relayed this information to Zaihan Yussof, a Singapore reporter.  That was how the cat was out of the bag”.

Joseph Xie Tan and Anthony Santia Raj are two other former associates of Wilson and alleged members of the match-fixing syndicate headed by Dan Tan.  They were responsible for organizing international friendly matches in Anatolia, Turkey, between Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia and Bolivia.  These friendly matches were the object of a probe into match-fixing by FIFA’s investigator Chris Eaton.  Wilson claimed that Dan Tan, with the help of Joseph Tan and Santia Raj, fingered him to the Finnish police.

“I am sure you are aware of the circumstances on which I was arrested in Finland”, Wilson wrote, “Dan Tan and Anthony Santia Raj had worked together to have me arrested in Finland.  They had engaged the services of Joseph Xie Tan to execute this plan”.

He also added:  “All I want to do is to get even with Dan Tan.  My circumstances are such that the only tool I can use to even the score with Dan Tan is to go to the media and expose his criminal activity … I can assure you that what I am about to tell you is all facts and none of these are made up or exaggerated”.

We asked Wilson to explain the structure of the match-fixing syndicate and to reveal  the names of other individuals and companies involved in match-fixing.  Although Wilson refused to identify the financiers of the syndicate, he did agree to disclose information about his arch-rival Dan Tan:

TAN SEET ENG (AKA DAN TAN)

“I have known Tan by name since 1992″, he wrote, “and I wish to shed light on Tan’s history and how he came about to work with Italian players”.

“Tan started as an illegal horse racing and football bookie in the early 90′s”. 

“Dan Tan was an ex convict in Singapore.  In 1994 he fled from Singapore to save himself from being killed because he was not able to pay up a 1.5 million bet placed during a world up match in 1994″, Wilson wrote.  Then he added:  “He then agreed with the bookies to settle the outstanding by installment and returned to Singapore”.

Then Wilson explained that Dan Tan had taken over for the former head of the syndicate in 2008.  Wilson claimed that Dan Tan’s mentor is an indian businessman from Singapore named Eswaramoorthy Pillay, although he prefers to call him Mr. X.

“After the end of the Malaysia Cup in 1994 the syndicates began to venture into Europe”, wrote Wilson, “Dan Tan was a right hand man of the person you mentioned in your mail.  I shall call him Mr. X”.  Wilson then continued:  “Mr. X incurred in huge debts from his European partners and left Europe for good.  This is when Dan Tan took over for Mr. X.  He approached Mr. X’s friends in Europe and rekindled the business”.

ESWARAMOORTHY PILLAY

We did our own investigations on Eswaramoorthy Pillay and found out some interesting facts.  Pillay is presently charged with accounting fraud in Malaysia through his company Linear.  He is also an executive of a group called Stanton Technologies, based in Penang, Malaysia.  We were told that he had been involved in financing the Swiss teams FC Sion and FC Chiasso, where other members of the match-fixing syndicate (such as Almir Gegic) had played.  To verify the allegation we went to Chiasso FC’s offices in Switzerland hoping to speak to someone from the club.  There was nobody around so we took a look inside the building.  That’s when we made an interesting discovery.  One of the sponsors for FC Chiasso in the season 2007/2008 (when Almir Gegic was playing there) was Stanton, Pillay’s Penang company, their logo appears on the official team picture.  We were not able to reach Eswaramoorthy Pillay to ask him about Wilson’s allegations and about the company Stanton.

Next we decided to call the then-president of FC Chiasso, Marco Grassi, to ask him whether he had known Pillay.  Grassi was evasive but he did admit that a man named Eswaramoorthy Pillay had offered to finance the FC Chiasso club.  According to Grassi, Pillay never actually put any money in the club, yet the name of his Penang company appeared clearly on the official team photo…

We thus asked Wilson to tell us more about Mr. X, and he did:

“Tan was a right hand man of Mr. X who invested in the Swiss Club you mentioned (i.e. FC Chiasso).  During this time Singaporeans were only keen on fixing Malaysia Cup matches.  Match fixing was already rife in South East Asia in the early 80′s.  Rajendran Kurusamy (another alleged Singaporean match fixer) also known as Pal came into the picture and he was dictating the entire Malaysian league till 1994 when Singapore decided to pull out from the competition”.

Wilson continued:  “This is when Mr. X decided to venture abroad.  He started a bogus company and built relationships with people in Europe who were related to soccer.  During these trips Tan acted as his book keeper.  During one meeting in 1995 I suggested to Pal that we switch off the floodlights in EPL (English Premier League) matches in order to win the bets we places (The Asian betting allowed payments for matches that ended during the second half).  No one took it seriously at that time.  In 1997 Mr. X sold this idea to a Malaysian syndicate and the plan was executed.  There were matches in the EPL namely West Ham V Crystal Palace and Wimbledon V Arsenal where the floodlights were switched off to suit the result”.

Since Wilson was speaking of the floodlight scam, we asked him to explain the procedure better:  “I am surprised you are not aware of the floodlight incidents”, he said, “You will need the assistance of the technician in the stadium plus some other techniques to ensure that the lights are not turned back on.  More like a power failure”. 

Wilson also mentions that Dan Tan was responsible for the floodlights being switched off during a match between Fenerbache and Barcelona.

“Tan had placed bets on Fenerbache to win the match.  But the score-line read 0-4 in favor of Barcelona during the half time.  If the lights were to go off before the second half kick-off then the betting would be cancelled.  Tan switched the lights off but the stadium officials used a generator to re-activate the floodlights and this match backfired”.

Wilson then proceeded to explain how Dan Tan had taken over for Eswaramoorthy Pillay:

“Mr. X was a high roller in Casinos”, he wrote, “He became indebted to his European friends and gradually drifted away from the scene.  This is when Tan took over and went in search of Mr. X’s friends.  This syndicate began to grow bigger and bigger as they began to venture into more countries.  In this business you can’t sit and wait for the apple to drop.  You have to dig deeper and deeper to achieve results.  If you take a look at my mobile I can call people in all of the continents”.

Regarding Pillay’s relationship with FC Chiasso, Wilson concluded:  “Mr. X was funding and fixing by placing the players of his choice”, and, “yes.  Almir Gegic was a player in Chiasso”.

DAN TAN IN ITALY

Wilson decided to go into more detail on Dan Tan’s Italian feats:  “Some time in 2009 Dan Tan fixed the first of many Italian matches”, he wrote, “It was a Serie B Albinoleffe match.  Subsequently he also became a shareholder of this team”.

We attempted to check the Italian company register for the club Albinoleffe but were not able to find any tangible trace of Dan Tan’s involvement in the club.   Yet Wilson was unshakable:  “I can assure you Tan had a share in the Italian Serie B club”, he insisted.

Wilson then went on to say:  “In 2010 Dan Tan’s popularity grew and many Italians began to look for his services to place bets on Serie A and B matches.  The Italians were not aware that they were being used by Dan Tan.  The total amount of bets for a Serie B match can fetch up to 4 to 6 million Euros.  (If the players agree to go for both Handicap and total).  For a Serie A match the total bet can fetch up to 10 to 15 million euros for a single match if bets are placed on both handicap and total goals”.

Wilson then explained:  “This is where the Italians are made to look like fools.  Dan Tan only offers them between 600.000 and 800.000 for a match.  Dan Tan makes more money than the players who manipulate the matches.  The Italians are ignorant of this fact and being used.  In fact there are betting agents in Singapore who are able to provide 3 to 4 times more than what Tan Seet Eng can offer to these Italians who had manipulated the matches”. 

Wilson said that the syndicate would place their bets on Chinese betting sites:  “The bets were placed in China where the betting is a lot more different than Europe.  The Chinese have betting patterns where you make a single click on your mouse assuming 1000 dollars, they can have it multiplied by 20 which means your single bet can be multiplied 20 times.  Tan has access to this group of people who can offer him this exceptional betting facility.  The betting company survives by riding on your information.  Basically this is how the syndicate works”.

We asked Wilson how Dan Tan came in contact with these alleged Chinese accomplices:  “The Chinese came in contact with Tan through middlemen.  The Chinese came to know of Tan’s ability to fix matches and offered him a service to place bets for him on the matches he fixed.  Then gradually the volume became bigger and bigger”.

We insisted with Wilson so that he name more members of the syndicate and its mysterious financiers – if there were any aside from Dan Tan – but he said that he was afraid for his family’s safety in Singapore.

Wilson also suggested that the members of the syndicate are still meeting in Singapore:  “I hear all the syndicate members are hiding in Singapore.  They regularly play 5 aside soccer.  You can snap pictures of them if you go under cover and arrange a 5 aside match through Gaye Allasan who has a soccer academy.  Try your luck. Good day.  Wilson Raj”.

Unfortunately we had already left Singapore.  Yet we checked for football academies in Singapore and for the name Gaye Allasan.  We came up with a football academy called Football 4 U, located on 120 Lower Delta Road #07-08 Cendex Centre Singapore.  Football 4 U is also the name of a company used by Wilson Raj Perumal to organized fixed friendly matches between national teams.  The academy Football 4 U appears on the website of the FAS (Football Association of Singapore) and its director is a man called Gaye Alassane.  Our colleagues in Singapore, whom we asked to check the address, say that there is nothing there.

Wilson Raj Perumal claims that Dan Tan is still in business:  “He is actively fixing matches.  Venezuela V Moldova and El Salvador V Moldova lately.  Puerto Rico V Nicaragua.  What can FIFA do?”.More
Want £200 Free? Click here to visit Bet365 and claim your free money.

ZURICH: Organised criminal gangs are targeting around 50 national soccer leagues for possible match-fixing and any country is vulnerable regardless of its record on corruption, according to FIFA head of security Ralf Mutschke.

Mutschke said a convicted match-fixer had personally told him at a secret meeting that the activity was preferred by many criminals to the drugs trade.

“I met a match-fixer, a convicted match-fixer, here in Zurich next to the zoo and he told me organised crime is moving out of the drug trade and getting involved in match-fixing because of low risk and high profit,” he said.

“He told me straight to my face,” added Mutschke who worked for the German federal police for 33 years before joining FIFA in 2012.

“I would say there are about 50 different national leagues outside Europe which are targeted by organised crime on the betting market,” he told reporters at FIFA headquarters.

Match-fixing has become a huge concern for soccer’s authorities recently as criminal gambling rings pay players, referees or officials to manipulate matches and make enormous amounts of money by betting on the outcome.

Mutschke said that in some cases national leagues and confederations had been infiltrated to the point where referees were able to boost their careers by taking part in manipulation.

“We have seen them trying to take over an entire club and use it for match manipulation, we see it in other parts of the world,” he said.

“If they manage to take over the club, they pay the salaries for the players but they are also transferring players to other clubs.

“We also see infiltration on an association level and on a confederation level.

“I know as well that referees are being lured by fixers who promise them a boost in their career when they get involved in match manipulation, because this fixer has good contacts in the federation.”

Mutschke pointed out that all countries were vulnerable, not just those with a reputation for corruption. One of the most notorious cases, which led to a two-year prison sentence for Singaporean national Wilson Raj Perumal for masterminding a match-fixing scheme, was in Finland.

“There is always the question about which is the most vulnerable region in the world,” said Mutschke.

“My answer is there is none. Perumal went to Finland and manipulated matches there and tried to infiltrate a club there. Finland is rated as number two on the transparency index, so it’s not corrupt at all.”

PLAYERS TUNNEL

Mutschke said match-fixers would sometimes approach players, referees or officials out of the blue.

“You have a 50 percent chance of acceptance and what upsets me is that it demonstrates to me that they have no fear of us because nobody is reporting these approaches,” he said.

On other occasions, they groom their victims over time. “You follow the target over a certain time period, you assess his attitude, whether he is satisfied, happy, is he paid, or lacking payment from the club, or is he betting.”

Sometimes, they even managed to get access to the players tunnel.

“The fixers are in the stadiums and are looking at the targets and sometimes they get access to the tunnel which is strange,” he said.

Another tactic by match-fixers is to organise international friendlies and change the referee at the last minute.

“If you don’t have pictures from the match, it is difficult to find out if this really was the referee who supposedly controlled the match.”

On one occasion, FIFA only discovered the change because the listed referee was black and they saw on Youtube that a white official was in charge of the game.

Mutschke said FIFA had set up a hotline for players and referees to report approaches and he wanted each of FIFA’s 209 member associations to appoint integrity officers to collaborate.

“I try to impress our members and involve them in the future in the fight against corruption. We have 209 members and several confederations and this is really a challenge. I might fail but at least I’d like to say I tried.”

GUATEMALAN EXAMPLE

“My goal is that the entire football community has to be strengthened in the fight against corruption and match manipulation.”

Mutschke said there had been some good news. “Last autumn, three referees were approached by a fixer on their way to a stadium (and asked) to fix a match. They reported it to FIFA. We could identify the guy, he is part of a football federation, he is under investigation and he will be kicked out,” said Mutschke.

He did not believe that any matches in the qualifying competition for the 2014 World Cup had been affected because of the prestige at stake and high profile of the games.

He also praised the Guatemalan squad who recently denounced three team mates for trying to persuade them to fix a friendly. The three were banned for life last year.

“Guatemala is a good example for me, they were really eager to do something. We appreciated it very much,” he said.

However, Mutschke admitted that FIFA could not provide protection for witnesses and that sanctions for players were often tougher than for the fixers.

“There are legal loopholes, I know that most of the sentences of one or two years, or sometimes just a fine. Can you threaten and organised criminal with a fine?” More

Want £200 Free? Click here to visit Bet365 and claim your free money.

Spanish league vice-president Javier Tebas has admitted that La Liga games have been fixed in the past and says the authorities are currently working hard to find the proof to punish those involved.

A number of unexpected results towards the end of last season caused eyebrows to be raised in Spain, with both then Racing Santander manager Alvaro Cervera and Granada president Quique Pina claiming Real Zaragoza’s escape from relegation – which included four wins in their last four games – had been suspicious.

Tebas, who at the time raised his own doubts that every game in the top flight in recent seasons had been clean, told Spanish radio show Al Primer Toque on Monday night that the authorities were currently trying to gather evidence to prove games had been fixed.

“Games have been bought,” Tebas said. “There is the real truth and then legal truth. Match-fixing exists, but you need to be able to prove it to be able to impose a punishment. We are trying to uncover the cheats because there are some, and even if there is just one, for me that is a scandal.”

Tebas said that it was likely that illegal gambling syndicates had influenced results in La Liga, as they had elsewhere in Europe.

“UEFA has said that 0.7% of games are bought,” he said. “In our football the same thing could happen as went on in Italy. I believe that there will be a scandal some day, because it happens. Could there be the same percentage of games bought here as UEFA say? There could be.”

As well as being LFP vice-president, Tebas also represents the so-called G30 group of clubs (the big two plus most Segunda Division clubs) in TV revenue sharing negotiations against a group of rebels (including Atletico Madrid, Valencia, Sevilla, Athletic Bilbao, Espanyol and Real Betis) who would like the revenues to be shared more equally.

He defended the current situation where Madrid and Barcelona between them take about half the money available, and said it was currently changing for the better.

“Real Madrid and Barca do not earn €140 million a year,” Tebas said. “They earn €130 million. Besides this €130 million, they give €5 million to help clubs who are relegated and another €5 million to the G30. We are going to be at a difference of approximately 1:6, where the club who earns the least in Primera Division gets €20 million.”

The sports lawyer also said he had “nothing to hide” about his role with the G30.

“In 2007 the clubs decided unexpectedly to pay me a sum for management of the contracts with Mediapro and, if my memory is not mistaken, they would distribute it in five years,” he said. “The total per year is €30,000.”

Tebas also claimed that the drop in attendances at Spanish league games this season was down to high ticket prices, not the controversial kick-off times which have seen weekend games spread across four evenings. More
Want £200 Free? Click here to visit Bet365 and claim your free money.