45 people indicted in Hungary in match-fixing scam

Hungarian prosecutors have indicted a Singaporean businessman known as Dan Tan and 44 Hungarians suspected of being involved in an international match-fixing conspiracy.

Chief Prosecutor Imre Keresztes said in a statement Thursday that 32 local and international matches are thought to have been manipulated by the suspects, including former and current players, referees, team owners, an agent and a coach.

The list of suspicious matches includes some played in the top Hungarian, Italian and Finnish leagues, the Hungarian lower divisions and several international matches at both the national team and club team levels.

According to the indictment, a Hungarian suspect and his associates joined an Asian-based match-fixing organization in 2010. The scam is believed to have been masterminded by Tan Seet Eng of Singapore, also known as Dan Tan, the world's most wanted and elusive match-fixing suspect.

Hungarian authorities said they have issued international and European arrest warrants for Tan, whom they identified only as T.S. Eng, so far without success.

More than a dozen of the suspects questioned by prosecutors have confessed their involvement in the scam and three of the suspects are under house arrest.

Hungarian authorities launched their match-fixing investigation in December 2009 and joined an international investigative force, formed by officials from Finland, Germany, and Europol, the European Union's law enforcement agency, in August 2011. Slovenia and Austria also joined the group later.

The suspects' aim was to place bets, mostly at Asian betting agencies, on matches whose outcome they could influence by bribing players and referees. The amount wagered by the organizers of the scam totaled hundreds of thousands of euros on each match.