Chicat
02-02-2005, 02:22 PM
Police raid homes of 19 people as match-fixing probe expands
Feb. 2, 2005
FRANKFURT, Germany -- Four referees and 14 players were among 25 people suspected of manipulating at least 10 games, including first-division matches, Berlin prosecutors said in Germany's growing match-fixing scandal on Wednesday.
Police raided the homes of 19 people across the country early on Wednesday and seized documents, a statement from spokesman Michael Grunwald said.
The statement did not give the names of any players but said they were from six clubs, none of them from the first-division Bundesliga.
All are suspected of fraud or abetting fraud, the statement said.
The probe was based on the statement referee Robert Hoyzer gave to the prosecutors on Friday, according to prosecutors. They did not say which games were allegedly manipulated.
Hoyzer, the first referee to come under suspicion from the German soccer federation, admitted taking bribes from a Croatian-controlled betting ring to manipulate at least four games. In his statement, Hoyzer gave the names of other people allegedly involved in the scandal.
Apart from Hoyzer, the prosecutors said they were investigating three other referees -- Juergen Jansen, Felix Zwayer and Dominik Marks.
Jansen, among the people whose home was searched, was in charge of the only first-division Bundesliga game mentioned in the case so far.
Apart from the four referees and 14 players under suspicion, three Croatian brothers were among the suspects, plus people connected to them, including one former referee, the statement said.
The three brothers, in custody since late Friday, bet on the manipulated games in Germany and abroad and made gains "in the millions," the statement said.
The prosecutors said they seized bank accounts and property worth about $3.17 million as guarantee against any compensation claims.
The probe was still at the beginning, the statement said.
The players were from second-division teams LR Ahlen, Chemnitzer FC, Energie Cottbus and Dynamo Dresden and third-division clubs Kickers Offenbach and SC Paderborn.
AP NEWS
Feb. 2, 2005
FRANKFURT, Germany -- Four referees and 14 players were among 25 people suspected of manipulating at least 10 games, including first-division matches, Berlin prosecutors said in Germany's growing match-fixing scandal on Wednesday.
Police raided the homes of 19 people across the country early on Wednesday and seized documents, a statement from spokesman Michael Grunwald said.
The statement did not give the names of any players but said they were from six clubs, none of them from the first-division Bundesliga.
All are suspected of fraud or abetting fraud, the statement said.
The probe was based on the statement referee Robert Hoyzer gave to the prosecutors on Friday, according to prosecutors. They did not say which games were allegedly manipulated.
Hoyzer, the first referee to come under suspicion from the German soccer federation, admitted taking bribes from a Croatian-controlled betting ring to manipulate at least four games. In his statement, Hoyzer gave the names of other people allegedly involved in the scandal.
Apart from Hoyzer, the prosecutors said they were investigating three other referees -- Juergen Jansen, Felix Zwayer and Dominik Marks.
Jansen, among the people whose home was searched, was in charge of the only first-division Bundesliga game mentioned in the case so far.
Apart from the four referees and 14 players under suspicion, three Croatian brothers were among the suspects, plus people connected to them, including one former referee, the statement said.
The three brothers, in custody since late Friday, bet on the manipulated games in Germany and abroad and made gains "in the millions," the statement said.
The prosecutors said they seized bank accounts and property worth about $3.17 million as guarantee against any compensation claims.
The probe was still at the beginning, the statement said.
The players were from second-division teams LR Ahlen, Chemnitzer FC, Energie Cottbus and Dynamo Dresden and third-division clubs Kickers Offenbach and SC Paderborn.
AP NEWS