Arbusers

https://www.interpol.int/News-and-Event ... OL-support

Any thoughts on this? Seems very sophisticated

That's an interesting article.
Obviously, match fixing is a crime - and also morally wrong imo.

But is it a crime to have a faster feed than the bookmaker? What does it even mean to "intercept satellite signals"?

It's so strange. For me it doesn't look like a crime.
Anyway, let's see...

I understand it is not a crime being smarter and faster than bookmakers, but the article is speaking about a criminal process. Let me quote:
''Through their investigations, officers uncovered a criminal process whereby the group would access match information before bookmakers, allowing them to place bets with certainty and ultimately, cash in.''
If this process contains match fixing, or even acquiring information from people who fix matches, then indeed we are talking about a crime.
But for sure, being faster and smarter than bookmakers in any legal way is not a crime, no matter how certain bookmakers try to present it.

arbusers wrote: ↑

Tue Sep 19, 2023 9:38 am

I understand it is not a crime being smarter and faster than bookmakers, but the article is speaking about a criminal process. Let me quote:
''Through their investigations, officers uncovered a criminal process whereby the group would access match information before bookmakers, allowing them to place bets with certainty and ultimately, cash in.''
If this process contains match fixing, or even acquiring information from people who fix matches, then indeed we are talking about a crime.
But for sure, being faster and smarter than bookmakers in any legal way is not a crime, no matter how certain bookmakers try to present it.

Thank you for confirming my understanding on this.
I also think that having an "inside guy" at the bookmakers confirming their bets at the bookmaker is illegal - both for them and for the guy doing the placing.

They had a guy working for the bookie that accepted their bets, I believe this is the crime... unless they also bribed some of the athletes. But having faster feed than the bookmaker is perfectly ok and not a crime, the bookie will simply stop accepting your bets after a few wins. Those guys' feed was probably faster by a few seconds, which in a normal situation is not enough to beat the bookmakers because there is at least 10 and sometimes more seconds between you placing the bet and it being accepted. The inside guy probably made so that their bets would get accepted instantly without the 10+ seconds delay.

They had and advantage of 20-30 seconds???
They took advantage in ATP and Bundesliga and World Cup???
How???

The guy inside.....i still don't understand what he was doing? Acepting normal bets???

The crime could be the multiaccounting.

But, in my opinion this case will end in not too much.

This is an article in a Spanish newspaper that gives more details about this case. I translated via google so sorry if any mistake


https://www.elconfidencial.com/espana/2 ... a_3735485/

NATIONAL POLICE MURSAL OPERATION
A mole in Luckia, a tapped TV signal and ping-pong: the kings of betting in Spain fall
The National Court is investigating a criminal organization dedicated to fixing sports bets, which would include the Mallorcan tipster Juan Gayá, with 220,000 followers on Telegram and another 83,500 on X

Juan Gayá Salom is one of the main sports betting tipsters or forecasters in Europe. He has 220,000 followers on Telegram and another 83,500 on Gayá's specialty is football, especially the First, Second and Third RFEF. In July 2021, he bought a chalet with a swimming pool and a private soccer field in Santa Eugenia (Mallorca) and shortly afterwards he announced on Instagram that he had acquired a Lamborghini valued at 250,000 euros.

The La Sexta Investigative Team program interviewed him in February 2023. The journalist asked him about that car and about other publications on social networks in which he flaunted his wealth. "If you earn the money in an honest and dignified way, why can't I show what I have achieved with my efforts?" Gayá responded. Weeks later, the National Police arrested him in his chalet as part of Operation Mursal, a device coordinated by the National Court that takes the name of an endangered Bulgarian aphrodisiac plant. The summary, which has remained secret until now, attributes to Gayá alleged crimes of money laundering and membership in a criminal organization specialized in scams and sports fixing. There are 22 other detainees.

Gayá's name was one of the last to appear in the proceedings. The investigations, which have been led by members of the National Police Center for Integrity in Sports and Betting (Cenpida) of the National Police, began with a friendly table tennis match played in Brazil in 2020, in the midst of global confinement due to the pandemic. During those months in which there were hardly any sports competitions, table tennis became an oasis of betting. Apparently professional tournaments began to spring up. They were held in small closed spaces, without an audience and in unknown locations. It was not even easy to identify the players, many of them visibly out of shape, overweight or with serious problems hitting the ball. But, despite everything, the duels were broadcast live on the internet and entered the betting houses.

Subsequent investigations have revealed that these table tennis tournaments had been organized by mafias dedicated to sports betting rigging. The supposed professional players were, in reality, simple ping-pong fans who had received money for executing pre-arranged results. One of those matches was played in Brazil and generated such scandalous movements in the betting houses that a global alert was issued. The first clues placed the alleged person responsible for that fraud on the Costa del Sol. His name was Yavor Ivanov Andreev and he was born in Bulgaria in 1992. Until 2017 he was a professional table tennis player, although he only had modest successes. Later he decided to dedicate himself to the much more lucrative business of fraud, according to the summary of the Mursal operation directed by the Central Court of Instruction Number 3 of the National Court.

Cenpida began tracking Yavor's assets, movements and contacts. Agents from the National Police Unit attached to the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office, as well as Europol and Interpol and Customs Surveillance, joined the investigations. The activity of this individual quickly led investigators to a second foreigner living in Spain. The two would have teamed up to act as a betting cartel. This second person involved was a Romanian named Bogdan Ionut Vorovenci. He had lived for years in a chalet in the small town of Cabanillas del Campo, in Guadalajara. On weekends he traveled to Madrid to enjoy a private box at Atlético de Madrid's Metropolitan stadium. There are entire teams in the third division of Romanian football that have gone before a judge to testify about this scandal. According to the investigation, Yavor and Bogdan shared contacts, information and infrastructure to place bets and launder the benefits they obtained. Yavor specialized in tennis and table tennis matches. The second in football matches in Romania and also in tennis. The agents suspect that they corrupted athletes to manipulate their scores. There are entire teams in the third division of Romanian football that have gone before a judge to testify for their involvement in this scandal. Other sports such as basketball are also under the scrutiny of researchers. Its tentacles even reached competitions in Africa. The search of Bogdan's house in Cabanillas del Campo yielded another discovery. The Police found more than 60 mobile phones turned on. Subsequent investigations revealed that the organization had stolen hundreds of identities to place enormous amounts of bets as if the predictions belonged to small, anonymous users with no relation to each other, a common practice of mafias to divide the enormous volumes of money they handle into small amounts and bypass the vetoes that weigh on offenders.

To ensure that a questionable ticket belongs to a real person, operators often call suspected customers and subject them to a security questionnaire. Bogdan had also found a way to circumvent those controls. Each of the 60 phones had a sticker with a different name and surname. If an operator called to check if any of the fake users existed, Bogdan would pick up the phone and pretend to be exactly that person. Police officers found another surprise outside the house. The person under investigation had two satellite dishes of an unusual size. They discovered that, with the help of a sophisticated computer program, Bogdan could intercept the television signal (feed, in English) of any sports broadcast, even if it was taking place on the other side of the world.

His purpose was not to enjoy the sport. The system allowed him to see the images long before they were distributed by television networks and reached homes. This advantage allowed him to bet on matches that were being played live as if he had traveled to the future and already knew the result. He knew if the referee had called a penalty or a team had scored dozens of seconds beforehand. He won large sums of money from matches in the UEFA Nations League, the Bundesliga, Asian and South American leagues, and ATP and ITF tennis tournaments. Bogdan gave that infallible trick a twist. As sources close to the case have confirmed to El Confidencial, last December he sent two collaborators to Qatar to broadcast the World Cup matches live from inside the stadiums. To communicate they used simple mobile phones. The signal from the terminals reached Spain before the television images. He had accurate information about key events in the matches long before the bookmakers had time to block those options.

The Romanian bettor and his Bulgarian colleague amassed millions of euros, although investigators have not yet been able to make a precise calculation. They used bank accounts from around the world, cryptocurrency wallets and payment gateways. They moved so many funds that, according to the investigations, they allegedly decided to ask for help from Juan Gayá, the tipster who manages the most bets and money in Spain. Due to his status as a VIP client, the operators allow the Mallorcan forecaster to make more predictions and higher amounts than the rest of the clients.

The intercepted communications reveal that Bogdan asked him to place bets on his behalf. First, he sent funds to Gayá, then he placed the bets and, finally, the profits obtained were transferred back to Cabanillas del Campo, already presumably laundered. The investigation also shows that Gayá was aware that Bogdan was using rigging information and fraudulently accessing the sports broadcast signal. The tipster would have even used this data to make money with his own bets and improve his success rate.

Bogdan went on to set up his own operator, Starbet.es, but the investigation frustrated the business. For his part, Yavor managed to escape from Spain before the operation. The Police followed his trail through Germany, Malaysia and Dubai. Finally, he was captured in the latter country. The Emirate handed it over to Spain a week ago and it has already gone through the National Court. In addition to Gayá, there are other Spaniards detained. One woman named Marta stands out who worked at Luckia and who allegedly received payment from the group for turning a blind eye to tickets that in other circumstances would have set off alarms. The rest of the nationals involved allegedly provided identities to place bets and open accounts to launder money.

jacampillocc wrote: ↑

Wed Sep 20, 2023 9:59 am

The system allowed him to see the images long before they were distributed by television networks and reached homes. This advantage allowed him to bet on matches that were being played live as if he had traveled to the future and already knew the result. He knew if the referee had called a penalty or a team had scored dozens of seconds beforehand. He won large sums of money from matches in the UEFA Nations League, the Bundesliga, Asian and South American leagues, and ATP and ITF tennis tournaments. Bogdan gave that infallible trick a twist. As sources close to the case have confirmed to El Confidencial, last December he sent two collaborators to Qatar to broadcast the World Cup matches live from inside the stadiums. To communicate they used simple mobile phones. The signal from the terminals reached Spain before the television images. He had accurate information about key events in the matches long before the bookmakers had time to block those options.

Very interesting story. But as others already mentioned, what kind of crime shall the quoted stuff be?

Apart from that, which year are we in? 2004? The 2023 I know you can go to a premier league match yourself and try to bet on your mobile device, you will not beat the clock. So this passage sounds like a lot of nonsense to me.

schollionär wrote: ↑

Wed Sep 20, 2023 10:33 am

jacampillocc wrote: ↑

Wed Sep 20, 2023 9:59 am

The system allowed him to see the images long before they were distributed by television networks and reached homes. This advantage allowed him to bet on matches that were being played live as if he had traveled to the future and already knew the result. He knew if the referee had called a penalty or a team had scored dozens of seconds beforehand. He won large sums of money from matches in the UEFA Nations League, the Bundesliga, Asian and South American leagues, and ATP and ITF tennis tournaments. Bogdan gave that infallible trick a twist. As sources close to the case have confirmed to El Confidencial, last December he sent two collaborators to Qatar to broadcast the World Cup matches live from inside the stadiums. To communicate they used simple mobile phones. The signal from the terminals reached Spain before the television images. He had accurate information about key events in the matches long before the bookmakers had time to block those options.

Very interesting story. But as others already mentioned, what kind of crime shall the quoted stuff be?

Apart from that, which year are we in? 2004? The 2023 I know you can go to a premier league match yourself and try to bet on your mobile device, you will not beat the clock. So this passage sounds like a lot of nonsense to me.

this is not the crime... but the people who wrote the article are not very familiar with sports betting and what is or isnt allowed

GNMbg wrote: ↑

Wed Sep 20, 2023 11:00 am

schollionär wrote: ↑

Wed Sep 20, 2023 10:33 am

jacampillocc wrote: ↑

Wed Sep 20, 2023 9:59 am

The system allowed him to see the images long before they were distributed by television networks and reached homes. This advantage allowed him to bet on matches that were being played live as if he had traveled to the future and already knew the result. He knew if the referee had called a penalty or a team had scored dozens of seconds beforehand. He won large sums of money from matches in the UEFA Nations League, the Bundesliga, Asian and South American leagues, and ATP and ITF tennis tournaments. Bogdan gave that infallible trick a twist. As sources close to the case have confirmed to El Confidencial, last December he sent two collaborators to Qatar to broadcast the World Cup matches live from inside the stadiums. To communicate they used simple mobile phones. The signal from the terminals reached Spain before the television images. He had accurate information about key events in the matches long before the bookmakers had time to block those options.

Very interesting story. But as others already mentioned, what kind of crime shall the quoted stuff be?

Apart from that, which year are we in? 2004? The 2023 I know you can go to a premier league match yourself and try to bet on your mobile device, you will not beat the clock. So this passage sounds like a lot of nonsense to me.

this is not the crime... but the people who wrote the article are not very familiar with sports betting and what is or isnt allowed

obviously they do not understand, thats my point. as i said before a very interesting story. and obviously if you bribe "athletes" or/and managers of bookmakers this is a crime. but if you bet "like you have travelled to the future" its not a crime. as a journalist you should be able to understand that even if you dont understand the betting business at all. it's just plain nonsense. you should not mix this stuff in that sensation seeking manner if you want to be considered a proper journalist. just my opinion.

the language used by the policia nacional and the journalists is interesting, it is the same as a recent guilty case in the UK.

whether we think their actions are some legal or some clearly illegal, the prosecution will present all their actions as criminal and fraud to the court and the court will decide what is illegal and what they are guilty of.

i think if bogdan and his friend had stuck to just beating the inplay delay with their hacked sateilitte feed they would probably still be betting without being found.

i was reading elsewhere they attracted the attentions of interpol when they started their fixing because they were linked in contacts to various other criminal organisations outside of betting.

For me, looks impossible for "normal people with not too much power", fix bets in World Cup or Bundesliga. So, whatever the bets are in those competitions, from my view all of them were legal. The "insider" and the goldeneye antennas, put even more dramatism to the story. Let's wait some months, and the case will deflate alone. The only crimes that i can watch are: The possibles table tennis fixed matches, and the multiaccounting, that the police should investigate if was with or without consent of the owners. And of course, the taxes that they didn't pay.

First, I would like to thank both Jacampilocc and Billy Blanks for bringing this article in the forum. Now allow me to comment on some points that I find very interesting. This post will be long, but it is better to keep it in one piece than cutting it to several parts.

jacampillocc wrote: ↑

Wed Sep 20, 2023 9:59 am

a friendly table tennis match played in Brazil in 2020, in the midst of global confinement due to the pandemic.

I remember very well this period when only Brazilian, Belarussian and Turkish sports were still going on. All these people who were fixing games were bottled in a limited number of events. Do you remember the crazy odds of Belarussian games? Because they were bottled, in the end they found themselves totally boxed in.

jacampillocc wrote: ↑

Wed Sep 20, 2023 9:59 am

they corrupted athletes to manipulate their scores.

No question about it, fixing games, corrupting athletes, manipulating scores, they are all very serious offences. These are crimes.

jacampillocc wrote: ↑

Wed Sep 20, 2023 9:59 am

The Police found more than 60 mobile phones turned on. Subsequent investigations revealed that the organization had stolen hundreds of identities to place enormous amounts of bets

Using stolen identities is a serious crime too. Now let’s walking on thin ice. Many people use the identities of others after signing an official contract and after scrutinising the law of the countries they live in. I can never be sure, but maybe there are countries where you can legally use the identities of other people, provided that they willingly handed them and the over all legislation allows it. I know, some professionals, requested and received signed opinions from specialists specifically for the use of identities of other people within an organisation of a syndicate.

jacampillocc wrote: ↑

Wed Sep 20, 2023 9:59 am

Bogdan would pick up the phone and pretend to be exactly that person.

Most probably a crime. If the identities were not stollen, he could have the real owners answering the questions.

jacampillocc wrote: ↑

Wed Sep 20, 2023 9:59 am

The system allowed him to see the images long before they were distributed by television networks and reached homes. This advantage allowed him to bet on matches that were being played live as if he had traveled to the future and already knew the result.

I see no offence here, no crime. Also, I believe the journalist who wrote the article is not well experienced. I m sure that bookmakers and other operators have live picture with no delay from any big event. Maybe the smaller markets of the Balkan peninsula and other countries of that kind, do not have a perfect coverage, and probably this is where the gang was able to sneak in.

jacampillocc wrote: ↑

Wed Sep 20, 2023 9:59 am

The intercepted communications reveal that Bogdan asked him to place bets on his behalf. First, he sent funds to Gayá, then he placed the bets and, finally, the profits obtained were transferred back to Cabanillas del Campo, already presumably laundered.

That was a mistake and a crime. Because like this he made himself part of the gang, taking advantage and benefitting of the fixed games, and at the same time helping the gang for its illegal purposes.

jacampillocc wrote: ↑

Wed Sep 20, 2023 9:59 am

One woman named Marta stands out who worked at Luckia and who allegedly received payment from the group for turning a blind eye to tickets that in other circumstances would have set off alarms.

It goes without saying, also a crime as she was a part of the gang.


The article says that some 22 people were arrested. To me, it seems like the typical gang that fixes games. They went one step further by illegaly obtaining the identities of other people and used these identities to laundry funds.
This is obviously an Ariadne's thread. Unlike the myth, we will never know how it started and where it was ended.

Actually, i am currently suing a french bookmaker for the non payment of 5 winning parlays for a total of 400k€. They are claiming my bets were placed with an unfair advantage. They think i knew the result of the bets at the time of placing the bets
So, i contacted their odds and sport data provider and they confirmed that no issued were registered for the matches i had placed bets on and according to their data all my bets were placed before their respective results.
Maybe my story will also make the news, who knows. I have official data to back me up, so hopefully i'll win