Key figures indicted for game fixing

By Lee Hyo-sik

Prosecutors said Thursday that they have indicted nine footballers, two brokers and two private backers implicated in a scam to manipulate outcomes while betting on matches.

They said four other individuals were involved in the football match fixing; Kim Dong-hyun, a 27-year-old player for the Korea Armed Forces Athletic Corps, already arrested by military prosecutors, Jung Jong-kwan of Seoul United, who committed suicide on May 30, and two gang members betting on games on prior information.

Investigators are also looking into three football matches held last year to check whether there were similar schemes by footballers and brokers to reap illegal gains.

Web of game fixing

The Changwon District Prosecutors’ Office said they indicted nine active footballers from the K-League’s first division and four other individuals on charges of violating the National Sports Promotion Act.

One of the two arrested brokers, surnamed Kim, played a central role in carrying through the match-fixing scam by raising funds from gamblers and bribing footballers, the prosecution said.

Investigators said Kim and another broker, also surnamed Kim, attracted 280 million won ($255,000) from two private backers.

They gave 120 million won to a midfielder at Daejeon Citizen, surnamed Park, and 100 million won to a player for Gwangju Football Club, surnamed Sung, on April 4, two days before a match between Daejeon and Pohang Steelers.

Of the 120 million won, Park kept 27 million won for himself, while giving the rest to seven fellow players at Daejeon.

Daejeon players intentionally lost the game against Pohang 3-0 in exchange for money, the prosecution said.

Manipulation prevalent

``There have long been rumors that footballers colluded with brokers to rake in illegal gains through sports betting by fixing matches. It is significant that investigators have been able to uncover the activity for the first time,’’ a prosecution official said.

But investigators failed to get to the bottom of a match-fixing scheme for the Gwangju-Busan match on April 6 as Sung was found to have not passed on money to fellow players.

Of the 100 million won Sung received from broker Kim, he was found to have kept 20 million won, while giving the remaining 80 million won to Jung Jong-kwan and Kim Dong-hyun.

The prosecution said Kim and other brokers bet a combined 190 million won on the Daejeon-Pohang match through an agency operated by Sports Toto and earned illicit gains of 620 million won.

But the racket was exposed when two private backers reported it to the prosecution after they were deceived by the brokers. The two were also indicted without physical detention.

Additionally, two gang members in Changwon have been put on the wanted list on suspicion they bet on the games along with the brokers and reaped illegal gains.