An operation of the National Police against fraud in sports bets has uncovered the new method used by a plot settled in Spain to cheat the game houses with bets in at least five games of the last World Cup, played in Qatar, and another five of LaLiga last season. The alleged involved took advantage of the 10 seconds of delay with which the television images of the meetings arrive at the screens of the game operators to make dozens of winning bets on line Thanks to the fact that a member of the group sent to the stadium – a novel figure that in the police jargon has been baptized as “announcer” – informed them on real time phone of what happened in the field. The investigation points to Bogdan Voro -Enci, a Romanian citizen without a history that resides in the town of Cabanillas del Campo (Guadalajara, 10,000 inhabitants), as an alleged leadership.
The inquiries of the National Police Center for Integrity in Sports and Betting (Cenidida, specialized in the fight against Los Amaños) have verified so far that the plot used this system in the parties of the last World Cup that played Camerún-Suiza and Portugal-Ghana on November 24; Cameroon-Brazil on December 2; and Poland-France and England-Senegal the next day. To do this, the plot sent an unidentified person to the name of Javier to the country of the Persian Gulf who respond Next goal, launch a corner or receive a card.
With that information, Voro -Enci and other involved won significant amounts of money, police sources stand out. Thus, in a classification match for the World Cup event, which Australia and Peru played on June 13 of that year and won the oceanic team in penalties, the alleged leader pocketed 13,520 euros. Police have also found indications of scams for this system in five LaLiga games last season. Specifically, Betis-Almería and Villarreal-Osasuna, played on October 16 and 17; Sevilla-Valencia, from the 18th of the same month; Celta-Getafe, of October 24; and Sevilla-Real Sociedad, of November 9. He also used it to bet in two games of the Copa del Rey (those played by La Nucia, an Alicante team that militates in the second RFEF, against UD Las Palmas and Valencia in December and January) and one of the Bundesliga (the Berlin-Wolfsburg Union of September 18 of last year). In the parties played in Spanish competitions, agents have identified the five speakersto which the leader paid 250 euros for each meeting.
The baptized as a living operation that has allowed to uncover this plot began in 2020, after detecting the cowgus on line In international table tennis competitions, a sports modality that continued to be disputed during the pandemic. The investigations, which is directed by the judge of the National Court María Tardón, put the focus on Yavor Ivanov Andreev, a former Bulgarian player of this sport that resided in Spain. Through it, the researchers arrived in Voro -Enci, with which they allegedly had deals and exchanged information to bet on competitions from various sports worldwide. The investigation revealed that, in addition to the purchase of players – there are six team players from the Romanian League 3 charged in this country for these events – the plot took advantage of what in technical language is known as “delays” (delays) of sports broadcasts to make fraudulent bets.
To do this, the alleged leader used two methods. For one, more sophisticated, he used two parabolic antennas 2.40 meters in diameter – more than the usual one – installed at his home with which to connect to satellites and intercept the images sent by the cameras in the stadiums before they arrived at television production studies and were broadcast. The codes with which the signal coding mocked were obtained through a chat of hackers In Telegram. In this way, he managed to receive the television signal on his own computer for a few seconds and other members of the plot made bets in “direct or live”The investigations have found indications that they did it in Asian Leagues football meetings, such as the one played in China, and South America, as well as in ATP tennis matches.
The second, simplest method was the sending of speakers To the stadiums. In one of the intervened conversations, the alleged leader urged the person who had sent the World Cup in Qatar so that, during the Portuguese-Ghana meeting, he would detail the second exact that he was being played to know the delay and, with it, the time he had to bet. Sources close to the investigation detail that Vorventi supplanted hundreds of identities to open accounts in different betting houses and be able to bet amounts that will not arouse suspicion. At the time of his arrest, he had about 60 mobile phones at his home through which he allegedly made these bets.
In a first phase of the Marsual Operation, developed in May, the police arrested 22 alleged members of the criminal organization, including Vorventi and Juan Gayá Salom, one of the main forecasters of sports bets (tipster) from Europe with thousands of followed on social networks. Marta C., a worker of one of the scammed betting houses to which the researchers award the key role of validating the bets of the plot that raised suspicions was also arrested. In addition, he is accused of using the information that provided him to make his own irregular bets. The last to be arrested was the former Bulgarian Table Tennis player, who was arrested in Dubai and, subsequently, delivered to the Spanish justice.
The investigation has not yet allowed to determine how much money they managed to pocket the main involved, although the first police estimates point to millions distributed in bench accounts around the world and cryptocurrency wallets. A detail points in this regard: Voro -Enci had opted for more than one year 11.4 million euros. Your partner, 6.4 million. In the conversations intervened, the alleged leader complained in addition to the betting houses had another 1.5 million for suspicions in their bets. The main members of the plot are accused of the crimes of belonging to criminal organization, corruption among individuals in the sports field, frauds to game operators, documentary falsehood, counterfeit currency and money laundering.
You can follow El País Deportes in Facebook y Xor sign up here to receive Our weekly newsletter.
