Interpol vs Betting mafia: who won this match?
As a result of a major international operation, which was joined by Interpol, Europol and the Spanish police, an organized criminal group was eliminated. She specialized in illegal sports betting and manipulating the results of competitions.
Successful fraudsters were helped by knowledge of the time delay between the broadcast of the event at the stadium and its appearance on TV screens. These 20-30 seconds allowed you to make profitable bets based on the current account.
"Organized criminal structures will not miss the opportunity to take advantage of even minimal weaknesses of the system. In this case, we are talking about an advantage of 20-30 seconds, which brought significant benefits to criminals," said Jurgen Stock, Secretary General of Interpol.
During the operation, law enforcement agencies searched four residential premises. Two properties, two large satellite dishes, three luxury cars were confiscated, and 47 bank accounts were frozen. In addition, 80 mobile phones were seized along with cash and counterfeit banknotes worth about €13,000.
The investigation began in 2020. Then the Spanish law enforcement agencies found out that the group, which was then based in Romania and Bulgaria, bribed athletes and organized rigged matches. The fact that satellite technologies are used to obtain data on the progress of the game became known a little later.
Initially, the police assumed that all the machinations were aimed at table tennis events. Later it turned out that bets were placed on almost all major sporting events in recent years, including the South American and Asian football leagues, the UEFA Nations League, Bundesliga matches, the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar and ITF and ATP tennis tournaments.
In order not to attract attention, the criminals hired intermediaries to make bets and collect winnings. They also had an agreement with an employee of one of the major bookmakers.
"Successful operations like this one in Spain demonstrate the effectiveness of our methods and databases in fighting crime. This allows the police to effectively eliminate vulnerabilities," concluded Stock.
As a result of a major international operation, which was joined by Interpol, Europol and the Spanish police, an organized criminal group was eliminated. She specialized in illegal sports betting and manipulating the results of competitions.
Successful fraudsters were helped by knowledge of the time delay between the broadcast of the event at the stadium and its appearance on TV screens. These 20-30 seconds allowed you to make profitable bets based on the current account.
"Organized criminal structures will not miss the opportunity to take advantage of even minimal weaknesses of the system. In this case, we are talking about an advantage of 20-30 seconds, which brought significant benefits to criminals," said Jurgen Stock, Secretary General of Interpol.
During the operation, law enforcement agencies searched four residential premises. Two properties, two large satellite dishes, three luxury cars were confiscated, and 47 bank accounts were frozen. In addition, 80 mobile phones were seized along with cash and counterfeit banknotes worth about €13,000.
The investigation began in 2020. Then the Spanish law enforcement agencies found out that the group, which was then based in Romania and Bulgaria, bribed athletes and organized rigged matches. The fact that satellite technologies are used to obtain data on the progress of the game became known a little later.
Initially, the police assumed that all the machinations were aimed at table tennis events. Later it turned out that bets were placed on almost all major sporting events in recent years, including the South American and Asian football leagues, the UEFA Nations League, Bundesliga matches, the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar and ITF and ATP tennis tournaments.
In order not to attract attention, the criminals hired intermediaries to make bets and collect winnings. They also had an agreement with an employee of one of the major bookmakers.
"Successful operations like this one in Spain demonstrate the effectiveness of our methods and databases in fighting crime. This allows the police to effectively eliminate vulnerabilities," concluded Stock.
