Costa News Spain Breaking News | English News in Spain.
A MAN has been arrested by the Policia Nacional in Spain for being part of a Europe-wide gang that fixed tennis matches to benefit players and gamblers to the tune of €800,000.
In the areas of Guadalajara & Valladolid, evidence was found during searches.
Eurojust coordinated an operation with participation from French, Bulgarians, Spanish, and Romanian authorities that resulted 16 arrests simultaneously and the dismantlement of the criminal organization.
READ MORE
The man who was arrested in Spain worked as an intermediary, paying people to pass money onto tennis players.
When higher-ranking athletes were defeated or lost crucial points in matches, suspicions of match-fixing began to grow.
The matches were connected when comparing other matches, players and alerts from sportsbooks around the world.
The suspicions that match-fixing was taking place grew as most bets were placed on players losing sets or matches.
The authorities discovered that certain participants had created accounts exclusively for tennis bets.
Also, they found that bets had been placed in multiple countries simultaneously. This was against the flow of the match.
The police suspect, after investigations, that a criminal ring paid players with French nationality who were in the ATP Top 100 rankings to lose a match or a set.
The financial transactions indicated that the network was operated primarily from Bulgaria and through intermediaries in other nations.
Investigators found that money was sent from Spain, Romania, and Bulgaria through French intermediaries. The money then went to French tennis players.
Authorities have currently identified profits worth around €800,000 as a result of match fixing.
Click here to read more Crime & Law News from The Olive Press.
