Jockeys held in race-fix probe
The ICAC has arrested two of Hong Kong's top jockeys and 17 other people as part of an investigation into race-rigging and illegal bookmaking.
Those arrested on Wednesday night in Happy Valley included former champion jockey Robbie Fradd from South Africa, high-profile Irish rider John Egan and four Hong Kong Jockey Club employees.
The raids, part of 'Operation Green Grass', were launched soon after the end of Wednesday evening's Happy Valley race meeting and centred on two separate premises which had allegedly been used for illegal bookmaking operations on the night's racing.
Fradd and Egan, who finished second and fourth respectively in last season's jockeys' championship, and the four Jockey Club employees are alleged to have 'accepted advantages from illegal bookmakers as rewards for supplying stable racing information and manipulating race results', according to a statement from the Independent Commission Against Corruption.
An ICAC source said last night that investigators believed the operation had been going on for some time. It was impossible to calculate the amount of money believed to be involved.
He said the key to the alleged operation was a 'link man' who provided a bridge between the outside syndicate heads, the jockeys and the Jockey Club employees. He was among those arrested.
'He was crucial and although not senior, he was in a position to be of use to the syndicate.'
Egan did not ride at the Happy Valley meeting but Fradd had five mounts and was victorious in the final race on Winning Dragon. The four Jockey Club employees are two trackwork riders, a racing registry assistant, and a clerk. The ICAC said the other 13 people arrested comprised an alleged illegal bookmaker, a saleswoman, a punting consultant, and 10 other non-members of the Jockey Club.
ICAC officers also seized equipment at the premises including computers and monitors, along with betting records.
The commission alleged the non-club employees were involved in the operation of illegal bookmaking centres and that the saleswoman had assisted in the laundering of illegal proceeds. The 'punting consultant' is a former journalist who, the commission said, was arrested for allegedly disclosing to one of the jockeys that he was the subject of an ICAC investigation.
The ICAC said it had worked in close liaison with the Jockey Club and that the investigation was continuing. Those arrested can be held for questioning for 48 hours without charges being laid.
Jockey Club security officials were briefed informally on the arrests by the ICAC late yesterday.
An ICAC source told the South China Morning Post officers had begun their investigations last September. About 100 investigators were involved in Wednesday night's operation. The raids were mainly concentrated in the Happy Valley area, although hostels and quarters of the Jockey Club were also raided. A number of private residential premises were also raided and searched.
Computer experts were last night helping ICAC investigators go through computer discs in an attempt to obtain more information about the syndicate's activities.
The Jockey Club's executive director of racing, Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges, said last night: 'Operation Green Grass is an ongoing ICAC operation and by law we can neither reveal nor discuss the limited details we have.'
The biggest recent racing scandal in Hong Kong history was the Stanley Chin case in October 1999, when 13 people were arrested, six charged and three of them - champion apprentice Chin and fellow apprentices Ricky Choi Chun-wai and Keith Kwok Ting - jailed.
In April 1986, Hong Kong racing was rocked by the Shanghai Syndicate case, orchestrated by textiles tycoon Yang Yuan-loong. Five riders were jailed for 18 months for conspiring to cheat the public at gaming. Yang received a two-year suspended prison sentence and was fined $5.4 million.
