Spanish police arrested another 53 people who have links to a major sophisticated sports betting fraud gang. [Image: Shutterstock.com]

Another step in the right direction

Law enforcement officers have arrested another 53 people who were allegedly involved in a major sports betting fraud ring in Spain. Spanish police and the country’s tax agency worked with Interpol and Europol to detain the suspects.

The initial phase saw officers bring 22 people into custody last year. These individuals were allegedly the leaders of the scheme and made about €2m ($2.2m) in profits.

allegedly working as mules for the illegal operation

Another 53 people were recently taken into custody in Guadalajara and Madrid as part of the second wave of arrests. They were allegedly working as mules for the illegal operation, allowing the ringleaders to use their personal info for online betting accounts in return for cash.

Duped sportsbooks

The illegal operation fixed sporting events and intercepted streams going to sportsbooks that thought they were getting live coverage of the given event. The group used advanced technology to delay the feeds so the ringleaders could place wagers before the sportsbook operator was aware of the latest action. After profiting from the delayed streams, the gang then laundered the money.

The criminal group allegedly fixed events across 20 different countries and a range of sports.

The authorities started investigating the criminal enterprise as far back as 2020 after noticing some suspicious online table tennis wagers. This led to the discovery of the scheme in Spain, which was largely operated by people from Bulgaria and Romania.

A major operation

The criminals used the personal information of hundreds of people to place wagers, having about 1,500 accounts under their control. Their use of various payment gateways and cryptocurrencies made it hard for investigators to follow the betting activity and trace the funds.

found over 200 prepaid SIM cards

During the raids at four residences last year, police seized computers, a couple of large satellite dishes, 80 telephone terminals, €13,000 ($14,120) in counterfeit money, €5,500 ($5,974) in cash, and signal receivers. They also found over 200 prepaid SIM cards.

The authorities blocked about €400,000 ($434,460) worth of cryptocurrency, 28 payment gateway accounts, and 47 bank accounts.