Singaporean linked to international match-fixing

SINGAPORE (AFP) –

Businessman Eric Ding, 31, gets in a car outside Singapore’s Subordinate courts on April 9, 2013. Prosecutors say Ding, who was arrested for allegedly trying to fix a football match by offering free sex to the referees, was part of an international syndicate rigging the sport.

Singapore prosecutors on Tuesday said a local businessman arrested on suspicion of trying to fix a football match by offering free sex to the referees was part of an international syndicate rigging the sport.

Eric Ding Si Yang, 31, was arrested on Saturday for allegedly supplying prostitutes to induce three Lebanese referees to fix an AFC Cup match on April 3 between Singapore-based club Tampines Rovers and India’s East Bengal.

“There is evidence to suggest the involvement of international syndicates for the offences committed by the accused,” Singapore state prosecutors said in a written submission opposing bail.

But despite prosecution objections, District Judge Kamala Ponnambalam granted the businessman bail, set at Sg$150,000 ($121,000).

Singapore has a long history of match fixing, and syndicates from the wealthy Southeast Asian island have been blamed by European police for orchestrating an international network responsible for rigging hundreds of games worldwide.

The suspect, described by local media as a nightclub owner who drives an Aston Martin sports car, had his passport confiscated and is required to report regularly to Singapore’s anti-corruption agency while on trial.

Singaporean businessman Eric Ding, 31, (R) leaves the Subordinate courts in Singapore on April 9, 2013. Prosecutors say Ding, who was arrested for allegedly trying to fix a football match by offering free sex to the referees, was part of an international syndicate rigging the sport.

Investigators said referee Ali Sabbagh and his fellow Lebanese assistants Ali Eid and Abdallah Taleb accepted the sexual favours but were abruptly pulled out before the match started.

The Lebanese are being held in suburban Changi Prison pending their bail hearing on Wednesday.

All four suspects are charged with corruption — three counts in the case of Ding — and are the first to be arrested since Singapore came under pressure in February to crack down on match-fixing.

The prosecution said Ding was a “high flight risk” because he has homes in Singapore and Bangkok, where his Thai wife and their daughter live.

“The forfeiture of bail money in the event of an accused’s abscondment is a calculated loss which the syndicate can easily recover through illegal soccer betting in merely a single game,” the prosecution said.

“Past cases also suggest a strong potential for such syndicates to interfere with the judicial process by getting witnesses to turn on the stand, or even to abscond altogether.”

In granting bail, the judge stipulated that Ding must call an investigating officer from the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) daily and report to the agency every Monday.

If convicted, Ding and the Lebanese face a maximum prison term of five years or a fine of up to Sg$100,000 ($81,000), or both, for each count of corruption.

Singapore’s Sunday Times said Ding was a football tipster for its sister tabloid The New Paper, which is popular among sports fans, from 2006 to 2012.

He spends most of his time in Bangkok but has stakes in a restaurant and nightclub in Singapore and is known to have a passion for fast luxury cars, it added.