São Paulo Police Identify Malaysians Who Run a Game Fixing Mafia

09/20/2016 - 15h06

As part of the ongoing 'Operation Game Over' that is investigating the fixing of soccer championships here in Brazil to benefit criminal groups that operate on betting exchanges in Asian countries, the São Paulo Civil Police have identified two Malaysians who are now the primary suspects in running the scheme in Brazil.

Jawahir Saliman, 40, known as "Mister Sam" or "Sammy", is suspected of being the main organizer of the scheme with his assistant Zulfika Bin Moud Sultan, 38.

According to the investigation by Drade (Sporting Crimes of Intolerance Repression) Police Unit, the department assigned to the case, they were here in Brazil in February and stayed in a hotel in Nova Iguaçu (RJ) to meet with Anderson Rodrigues, 41, the principal operator of the scheme, and with the leader of the team from the first state division in Rio de Janeiro.

The suspects were identified when former player Márcio Souza, 36, who had been Rodrigues' right-hand-man until July of this year, accepted a plea-bargain agreement after he was arrested along with eight other people in Operation Game Over. In total, twelve temporary arrest warrants were issued, but two weren't served.

Saliman is known throughout Asia for his involvement in illicit activities. In 2015, Gunawan, coach of the Indonesian team Perispur Purwodaddi, classified him as a "professional" game fixer on the "Antara News" site.

"He is very good at fixing games. He is always present at the games", he said, adding that payments are always made in cash, which goes along with the "modus operandi" that he uses here in Brazil. According to Gunawan, Saliman has already negotiated with nearly half of the first division clubs in Indonesia.

Saliman and Sultan are the first foreigners to be investigated. After fixing the outcome of the games, they would bet on the winning matches and multiply their investments. The police are still investigating whether there are more participants from outside of Brazil involved.

The Civil Police have already sent a request for cooperation to Interpol. The idea is to widen the investigation of Saliman and Sultan in other countries and to get them included in the wanted list.

Initially, their indictment here in Brazil isn't being given high priority, due to the difficulty of finding them outside of the country, getting them extradited and making them answer for their crimes.

PLEA-BARGAINER

Among those arrested in the operation, Márcio Souza is the only one that has had any direct contact with Saliman e Sultan. A native of Rio, he had spent eight years in clubs in Indonesia and Malasia when he got to know the Malasians.

Relatively unknown in Brazil, Souza is popular in Indonesia. After three years and 57 games with Persela Lamongan (2006-2008), he became an idol after scoring 42 goals in the local league. But his performance fell off in following years and he had behavioral problems.

However, he wasn't the head of the scheme here in Brazil. He was an assistant to Anderson Rodrigues, who played in Indonesia between 2002 and 2010, when he himself got to know the Asians.

Subject of an arrest warrant in July, Rodrigues is considered a fugitive by the Civil Police, who have evidence that has been travelling in the countryside in São Paulo and Paraná and that he continues to be active in game fixing.

Translated by LLOYD HARDER

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