Fugitive in bid to fix LionsXII match in 2012 nabbed

After two years on the run, an alleged match fixer has apparently been nabbed.

Businessman and former Malaysian national footballer Thanasegar S Sinnaiah, 40, will now face justice in Singapore, sources told The New Paper on Sunday yesterday.

Thanasegar was initially charged, alongside part-time referee Shokri Nor, who was then a lance corporal with the Royal Malaysian Police, with conspiring to fix a Malaysian Super League match between Singapore's LionsXII and Sarawak FA at Jalan Besar Stadium on May 22, 2012.

When they were put on trial, it emerged that Thanasegar had allegedly orchestrated a meeting between Shokri and Singaporean project manager Selvarajan Letchuman.

Selvarajan had allegedly given RM500 (S$200) to Shokri.

The Singaporean was also charged with agreeing to give him up to RM15,000 to fix the result.

They were arrested before the game kicked off and the referees were changed.

But in July 2012, Thanasegar and Shokri failed to turn up in court and were reported missing.

In November 2012, Selvarajan, then 49, was given a discharge not amounting to acquittal in a subordinate court.

He had faced two charges of corruption, which carries a maximum penalty of a $100,000 fine and five years' jail.

The duo were believed to have fled to Malaysia, where at least one of them - Shokri - did not seem to be hiding. In mid-2013, this reporter tracked him down to a house in Sungai Petani, Kedah.

Shokri had declined to speak to us when approached for an interview back then. His current whereabouts are unknown. As a fugitive, Thanasegar was reportedly seen in Kedah and Kuala Lumpur.

At least one regional investigator and sources in Malaysian football shared unconfirmed reports that he had been moving from state to state to evade the authorities there. - Zaihan Mohamed Yusof

This article was first published on August 10, 2014.
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