'I was waiting for him to return home'

She thought her brother had gone to Europe for a simple holiday, to relax and de-stress.

She had no clue that Chann Sankaran, 33, had been arrested in Britain on suspicion of fixing English football matches.

His sister, who did not want to be named, found out from journalists just 30 minutes before The New Paper visited their home in Hougang yesterday.

She said with a hint of worry and confusion in her voice: "I'm still in shock. I did not suspect that anything was wrong.

"He said he would come back at the end of the month and I was waiting for him to return home."

She had spoken to him just three days earlier, on Tuesday, when he called her from England. They were on the phone for about five minutes.

"It sounded like a normal call. Nothing was different - he even asked about my daughter," said his sister.

Sankaran has been living with his mother, sister, brother-in-law and niece for about two years.

CREDIT CARD FRAUD

Before that, his sister said, he spent about two years in prison for credit card fraud.

"After he came out of prison, he was a changed man - he was a caring brother and even gave me about $300 every month," she said.

He hardly spent any money and was constantly saving, she said.

He was working as a delivery assistant before he left for Europe.

"He worked five days a week and came home at about 7pm to have dinner with the family," said Sankaran's sister.

She said that he was very homely and spent his weekends taking care of his niece while she and her husband worked.

When The New Paper asked her if she had heard of convicted Singaporean match-fixer Wilson Raj Perumal, she admitted that she had heard his name in the news.

She said that she did not know of any links between Sankaran and Wilson Raj.

She also said that she was not aware that her brother had been involved in any match-fixing activities.

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