Wanted football match-fixer Wilson Raj now in Hungarian police custody

Match-fixer Wilson Raj Perumal has been handed over to authorities in Hungary by Finnish police, said a Singapore Police Force spokesman. -- PHOTO: NEW PAPER
Match-fixer Wilson Raj Perumal has been handed over to authorities in Hungary by Finnish police, said a Singapore Police Force spokesman. -- PHOTO: NEW PAPER

SINGAPORE - Notorious match-fixer Wilson Raj Perumal has been handed over to authorities in Hungary by Finnish police, said a Singapore Police Force (SPF) spokesman on Wednesday.

This after the Finnish police were "unable to accede" to a request by the SPF to send the Singaporean match-fixing kingpin - who is also a wanted man here since 2009 - back to Singapore. This is because Finland, which placed Wilson Raj under arrest on April 16, is "bound by European Union laws to return him to Hungary", where he is also being investigated for links to match-fixing in the region.

"We will continue to explore alternative options within our legal framework to bring Perumal back to Singapore from Hungary," added the SPF spokesman.

Wilson Raj - who is also linked to match-fixing in countries such as Australia - was arrested in Helsinki in February 2011 for bribing players in the Finnish league, as well as travelling on a forged Singapore passport. His initial arrest is believed to have helped to spark a global clampdown on match-fixing, resulting in the arrest here of another Singaporean - Dan Tan Seet Eng, who is linked to a syndicate suspected to have fixed matches in Italy.

Join ST's WhatsApp Channel and get the latest news and must-reads.