Story By: Juan Mayes, Sub Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Golder’s News And Sport
The Spanish National Police “have detained a total of 14 people in Spain” after “several attempts at match-fixing were detected in the Italian Serie A.”
The statement was released today (Friday) after the second phase of the Spanish match-fixing case dubbed the Oikos case has uncovered an alleged tie to the top-flight Italian league.
The statement said: “Agents of the (Spanish) National Police, in a joint investigation with the central operating service in Rome of the Italian State Police and coordinated by EUROPOL, have detained a total of 14 people in Spain during the second phase of the Oikos operation.”
The Oikos case is an investigation by Spanish authorities on match-fixing which has included names like former Leeds United footballers Samuel Saiz, 28, and Raul Bravo, 38, who were arrested for their alleged participation earlier this year but were acquitted.
The report went on to say: “There have also been two searches conducted in Italy which prove the alleged participation of the detainees in crimes of corruption between individuals, money laundering and unlawful administration.
“Several attempts of match-fixing have been detected during the investigations in the Italian Serie A.
“Moreover, a relation between leaders of the organisation and an illegal betting house in Italy, whose customers included people with high purchasing power including players from the Italian First League has been proven.”
The report states the first phase of the investigation, which was carried out in May of this year for match-fixing in the second-tier Spanish league, lead authorities to uncover the alleged connection in the second phase.
The report states the investigation centred around one “Italian person who was directly linked with the Oikos case” and made several trips between Rome and the Spanish city of Malaga to carry out “the criminal activities”.
The report states two searches were conducted in Italy that “prove the alleged participation of the detainees in the crimes of corruption.”
The identity of the people who have been detained is unclear.
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