Six arrested by Australian authorities over match fixing scandal

Cover Image Courtesy: Sports Techie | Thumbnail Image Courtesy: Deccan Herald

A combined investigation that was commenced on March 2019 by the Sporting Integrity Intelligence Unit along with the Organized Crime Intelligence Unit has led to a total of six arrests till now. These arrests were made after police received information from a betting agency about some suspicious betting activity linked to a CS:GO tournament.

A total of six raids were made by the authorities, constituting of three raids at the residential properties in Mill Park and South Morang, followed by one in Perth and two more in Mount Elizabeth. A total of six people were arrested, four were caught in the first series of raids on 21 Aug while two more were caught today.

All the six arrested are between the ages of 20-22 years. They have been charged in relation to the offences of “engaging in conduct that corrupts or would corrupt a betting outcome of event or event contingency, or use of corrupt conduct information for betting purposes.”

They were all interviewed by the authorities and have been released as of now, with further enquiry in the matter yet to be made. The investigation is still on-going and if found guilty the six can face up to 10 years of imprisonment.

According to the authorities investigating the case, a total of five matches were impacted while over 20 bets were put on the matches by Australian punters. The detectives are currently working with a few betting agencies, including Sportsbet, to solve the case.

Neil Paterson, Assistant Commissioner said the following on the whole situation,

“Esports is really an emerging sporting industry and with that will come the demand for betting availability on the outcomes of tournaments and matches.”

“It’s important that police and other agencies within the law enforcement, gaming and betting industries continue to work together to target any suspicious activity.”

“These warrants also highlight that police will take any reports of suspicious or criminal activity within esports seriously, and we encourage anyone with information to come forward.”

Let’s see how the investigation proceeds and what actions are taken against the accused.