Match-fixing investigators target online betting sites
The Crime Suppression Division (CSD) is launching a nationwide crackdown on online football gambling as the search widens for suspects in a match-fixing scandal that has tainted the country’s top-flight football league.
Acting division chief Maitree Chermcherd said the CSD is leading the investigation into the match-fixing ring which is also thought to have spread its tentacles across the country through online gambling. The crackdowns comprise investigators and commando unit personnel.
Business people have financed online football betting services which operate from rented houses equipped with computers and internet access in major provinces.
The bookies then set up webpages to receive the bets, according to Pol Col Maitree. The webpage has a server registered overseas and the gang also runs a back-up server to make it harder for police to locate them, he added.
The acting CSD chief said investigation summaries on the suspects arrested so far had been forwarded to the Metropolitan Police Bureau (MPB) which is collecting facts needed to expand the probe to look at related offences.
The MPB should be able to move fast in expanding the case given its experience and familiarity with other gambling investigations, according to the CSD.
However, t he CSD remains in overall charge of the match-fixing investigation, since it has the manpower and authority to apprehend suspects based in the provinces.
So far, 12 suspects have been arrested including five professional players, one referee, a linesman, a member of one of the club’s management teams and four business people, according to a police source.
The suspects are accused of “receiving money or benefits in order to throw a game or influence others to throw a game or manipulate the score”.
Four of the players are from top-flight club Navy while the other hails from Nakhon Ratchasima in the same league. The Navy club has launched it own probe into the accusations against its team members.
A police source said investigators have identified a former referee, who is wellknown nationally, as the match-fixing mastermind. His name has not been disclosed. The suspects are accused of colluding to fix the results of games last season but police believe the racket has been operating for quite some time.
The gang runs gambling webpages to take bets and paid football players and other suspects to fix the matches.
The gang was able to pull in many gamblers, mostly men, with webpage adverts featuring attractive women, Pol Col Maitree said.
According to the source, investigators spent about a year on the case before arresting the 12 people, adding leads came from the Football Association of Thailand.
Many matches were fixed, according to the source. Prior to the 12 arrests, police nabbed Theerajit Sitthisuk, and charged him with football gambling on Sept 30.
Further inquiries revealed Mr Theerajit was linked to the match-fixing gang. He was accused of offering the goalkeeper of a professional club money to throw a game which took place on Sept 20. However, the keeper refused the offer.