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.'
