Football corruption: 5 notorious match-fixers in Singapore

(From left) Notorious Singaporean match-fixers Wilson Raj Perumal, Dan Tan Seet Eng and Selvarajan Letchuman. PHOTOS: ST FILE, STERN MAGAZINE

This article was first published on May 30, 2015, and updated on Nov 25, 2015.

SINGAPORE - Businessman Dan Tan Seet Eng, who is said to have rigged over 150 football matches in countries including Italy, Hungary, Finland and Nigeria, was freed from detention by the Court of Appeal on Wednesday (Nov 25).

The 51-year-old has been in prison since October 2013, after being detained under the Criminal Law (Temporary Provisions) Act, which allows for detention without trial.

On Wednesday, the Court of Appeal ruled that his detention was unlawful after his lawyers challenged his continued detention.

The Straits Times looks at five of the most notorious match-fixers in Singapore.

Dan Tan Seet Eng

Dan Tan Seet Eng. PHOTO: STERN MAGAZINE

Read more:

Alleged match-fixing kingpin Dan Tan freed by Court of Appeal

Match-fixing suspect claimed he was set up

Alleged match-fixer loses detention challenge

Arrest 'spells end of match-fixing ring'

Singaporean Dan Tan charged in Hungary football match-fixing probe


Wilson Raj Perumal

Wilson Raj Perumal. ST PHOTO: WONG KWAI CHOW

Wilson Raj Perumal was jailed a year in 1995 for giving US$2,400 (S$3,234) to a football team captain to throw a match in September 1994. He then went on to fix bigger matches, all the way to the World Cup, and became Fifa's most wanted man.

In February 2011, the Singaporean was arrested in Finland and served one of a two-year sentence for fixing top-tier games there. He also decided to collaborate with the Finnish authorities, revealing a global network of match-fixers based in Singapore where he fingered Dan Tan as the boss of the operation.

In an interview with CNN last year, Wilson Raj said he earned "five to six million dollars" from influencing "80-100" matches in his two-decade run of match-fixing.

Having completed one year of his sentence, he was extradited to Hungary in 2012, where he is currently under house arrest and assisting match-fixing investigators.

The father of twins now lives in Budapest and has also co-written the book Kelong Kings: Confessions Of The World's Most Prolific Match-fixer.

Read more:

Football: Singaporean match-fixer who blew millions has 'no regrets'

Police fail in bid to get match-fixer returned to S'pore

Wilson Raj 'still in Finnish police custody': Singapore Police Force

Football: Fixer Wilson Raj nabbed in Finland


Eric Ding

Eric Ding Si Yang. ST PHOTO: NEO XIAOBIN
Thanasegar S. Sinnaiah. ST PHOTO: WONG KWAI CHOW

He pleaded guilty to two counts of abetment by conspiracy with Selvarajan and Shokri to cheat Singapore Pools, and for one count of failure to present his passport when leaving Singapore.

The referee, Shokri Nor, 50, a former Malaysian policeman, is still on the run.

Read more:

Match-fixer says sorry to Singapore

Ex-footballer admits to abetting in conspiracy to fix match and cheat S'pore Pools

Former Malaysian footballer who jumped bail brought before court


Selvarajan Letchuman

Selvarajan Letchuman. ST PHOTO: WONG KWAI CHOW

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