A total of 23 members of an alleged betting syndicate have been arrested on suspicion of fixing football matches in lower-division games in the Spanish league, the Gibraltar National League and the Andorra League.
Among those arrested are several footballers who are suspected of having used their position to steer the outcome of games in which they participated in.
The arrests took place in November 2022 in several Spanish provinces – Badajoz, Cádiz, Ciudad Real, Córdoba, Tenerife and in the autonomous city of Ceuta – and follow the arrest of 21 other members of the same criminal organisation in 2021.
Known as Operation Conifera, this investigation into match-fixing was carried out by the Spanish National Police in a joint operation with Europol and Interpol.
A total of thirty football matches are currently being investigated in this case. The profits generated are estimated at over €500,000.
The investigators were able to uncover with Europol’s support how this betting syndicate operated.
The criminal organisation operated a top-down operational business model. At the top of the criminal structure were the two leaders of this criminal gang who had close connections with football players and backroom staff. The intermediaries were responsible for the coordination of the match-fixing schemes, while the corrupted athletes would provide confidential information in order to influence matches.
This organised crime group also relied on mules who would place sports bets at bookmakers and collect the prize money, and a network of procurers responsible for providing identities for online betting on rigged matches. The procurers were paid between €4k and €24k per online account.
The criminals used encrypted means of communication in order to avoid police detection.
Europol’s support was central in the development of the Spanish investigation. A specialised officer was deployed to Spain to provide on-the-spot operational and analytical support to the national investigators.
‘Europol has a team of experts working with law enforcement authorities across the EU to identify links between suspicious matches and suspects, and to uncover the organised crime groups orchestrating these multi-million euro frauds against sport.’ the agency said in a statement.
Se trata de la segunda fase de la #OperaciónConífera llevada a cabo por @policia, @Europol e @INTERPOL_HQ
— Policía Nacional (@policia) January 31, 2023
Los líderes de la #redcriminal gestionaban las cuentas de #juegoonline y las apuestas
El segundo peldaño de la organización lo conformaban los propios jugadores de fútbol https://t.co/7RbLqyAUfa
🚨 23 arrested in Spanish football match-fixing probe.
— Europol (@Europol) January 31, 2023
⚽ Known as Operation #Conifera, this investigation into match-fixing was carried out by 🇪🇸 @policia in cooperation with Europol & @INTERPOL_HQ.
Details ⤵️https://t.co/939nfwGTyT pic.twitter.com/2O5Jvj4hIb
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