Streak corruption scandal reveals new phenomenon ZC backs ban on ex-coach
FORMER Zimbabwe captain Heath Streak (pictured)’s shocking admission of cricket corruption has also shone a light on cryptocurrency finding a place in the bookies’ list of enticements — a brand new challenge for the International Cricket Council (ICC)’s Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU), which claims to be ready for the battle.
Streak was on Wednesday banned by the ICC for eight years after admitting to disclose inside information to a suspected Indian bookie during his coaching stints in Zimbabwe, Bangladesh as well as the IPL, Afghanistan Premier League and the Bangladesh Premier League.
To date, cash has been the most preferred mode of payment for bookies, who also pay in kind with cars, jewellery and high-end phones.
However, Streak’s case has thrown up the use of bitcoin in corrupt payments. e ICC’s detailed judgment in the case has revealed that Streak once received two “bitcoins” from a corrupter in 2018, valued at US$35 000 at that time.
“It is a new phenomenon for us, but we have staff capable of investigating it. Corrupters try to use all modes including cash and ‘hawala’, which are not easy to trace either. Bitcoins pose a similar challenge,” ICC ACU general manager Alex Marshall said in an e-mail reply to a query yesterday.
So what is cryptocurrency?
In layman’s language, cryptocurrency is virtual money. It is the purchase of a digital asset based on an algorithm.
e bitcoins that are generated aren’t regulated by any central banking authority in any country and in many countries like India, it is still an illegal tender.
In simpler words, it is a “Blockchain Industry” where a financial transaction between two people sitting in two different parts of the world will not have any intermediaries.
e valuation of one bitcoin is staggering. One bitcoin’s INR value currently stands at US$62 453.
However, the bigger challenge is that coding of cryptocurrency is believed to be watertight. ere are elaborately programmed vaults (digital) and the tracking can be infinitely more difficult when compared to paper tenders like US dollars or British pound.
Marshall said that ICC is up for the challenge in the coming days now that a new method of corruption has emerged.
“Tracking bitcoin transactions may not be easy, but we have the right people with the right expertise, understanding and network needed to ensure we stay ahead of the corruptors,” Marshall said.
Even BCCI’s new head of ACU Shabbir Hussain Shekhadam Khandwawala said that he heard of payment through bitcoins for the first time.
“Yes, I was going through the details of the Heath Streak case. I have also heard about bitcoin transaction for the first time,” the former DGP of Gujarat Police told PTI.
However, Hussain feels that tracking of corrupt people is not always about the keeping a vigil on the mode of transactions.
“We always catch the people not by the amount or how the money is paid (bitcoins in this case). Our clues are different. We keep a watch on them and their activities and telephonic calls,” Hussain said.
“Some things happen underground also,” he said, adding
“Everything has to be on the basis of the solid information received from sources. So if someone has accepted money or been involved in graft in any form, once you start investigation, you are able to reach that.”
He, in fact, played down the prospect of cryptocurrency gaining ground in the world of cricket corruption.
“... well it’s fine for the person in question to keep his money safely. It is like safe parking of money where no one can see it. But does it come in the way of investigation of this case? Perhaps not.”
“I still don’t think it will become a trend and even those indulging in such activities will always leave a trail,” Hussain concluded. — Hindustan Times.
ZIMBABWE Cricket (ZC) chair Tavengwa Mukuhlani says the eight-year ban handed to former national team all-rounder and coach Heath Streak for corruption is the sport’s darkest day in the country.
Streak (47) admitted five breaches of the International Cricket Council (ICC)’s anti-corruption code and agreed to the sanction that was revealed on Wednesday.
“ is is a very sad and shameful episode that might well go down in history as the darkest day in Zimbabwean cricket,” Mukuhlani said in a statement.
“Streak was a powerful figure adored by many and held up as an idol for future generations of cricketers.
“But, as we and the rest of the world now know, Streak was also a corrupt, greedy and selfish character, who regrettably abused his status and position in pursuit of dirty benefits.”
Mukuhlani endorsed the punishment and said it would “help to reinforce the measures that the ICC and ZC have been taking to root out any wrongdoing in cricket.
“We will continue to work actively within our structures and with the ICC to combat criminality in all of its forms and to ensure that cricket remains clean locally and globally.”
Streak, who played 65 tests and 189 one-day internationals for Zimbabwe from 1993-2005, declined to comment when contacted by Reuters.
e charges against him included revealing inside information which could be used for betting purposes and failing to disclose a payment in bitcoins from a potential corrupter to anti-corruption officials.
e games in question include several international matches in 2018, as well as games in Twenty20 leagues in India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. — Reuters.