Power vacuum puts spotlight on other match fixers

They are confident only because they think nobody is watching.

That is one of the reasons anti-fraud sports investigator Michael Pride believes some Singaporean syndicates are bold enough to meet new contacts in the match-fixing world.

Mr Pride, the director of operations at SI Sports Intelligence, said: "I think there has been a number of people, who for a long time, have never been noticed (by the authorities).

"They're bold only because the focus had previously been on other syndicates like those linked to Wilson Raj Perumal and Dan Tan Seet Eng."

Currently, convicted match fixer Wilson Raj is assisting the Hungarian authorities as a witness in its match-fixing investigations.

Dan Tan and 13 other people from his syndicate were arrested in September last year following a crackdown in Singapore.

He is believed to be one of the four detained without trial for activities relating to global match fixing.

Said Mr Pride: "It doesn't surprise me that (match fixer) 'Victor' and others like him are more visible today because with two known syndicates out of the way, there appears to be a power vacuum."

This article was published on April 10 in The New Paper.

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