Kelong Kings: Confessions of the world's most prolific match-fixer

by Wilson Raj Perumal

  "There is no way out of this", he bowed. "The court had no obligation to inform the accused that they were going to ask for corrective training because they examine one's antecedents only after hearing his plea".

  I was not satisfied with my lawyer's explanation and sought a senior counsel to replace him. The counsel asked for an upfront fee of 100 thousand Singapore dollars, the unsettling part being that the request was made before he even looked at my notes of evidence and prior to his knowing whether I had any chance of success. There was no use in paying 100 thousand dollars on a lost cause so I gave that attempt up as well and awaited nervously for someone, anyone, to present me with a plausible way out.

  Meanwhile, the three weeks in prison had abruptly interrupted my frenetic activity. I had lost contact with my boys around the world and was rendered unavailable to those trying to get in touch with me. As soon as I was out I sought the Nigerians. I had gotten them qualified to the World Cup and they were supposed to repay me with their South African training camp and their warm-up friendly matches: three games against opponents of my choice and with my referees at the helm. I called Prince for an update.

  "Hey Prince, how are things?" I asked. "What's happening with the training camp, and are you going to give me the three games or what?"

  But the Nigerians started playing hide and seek with me.

  "We were looking for you high and low", Prince said. "You went missing for weeks. We've already made arrangements for our training camp with somebody else".

  The message was pretty clear: they had fucked me up. I was neither going to arrange their camp nor would I get the three matches and, much to my regret, Mozambique wasn't going to get the 100 thousand dollars that they were promised. Had these Nigerian mother-fuckers given me even a single friendly game, I would have surely paid Mozambique. Nigerians can never be trusted in a deal; that much I gathered from my experience with them.

  The betrayal of Nigeria wasn't the end of it. When I got back to my office, I noticed that there were a series of outgoing e-mails from Football4U's account. It was a newsletter of sorts that had been sent to all of my business contacts while I was locked up.

  "With effect from today", read the e-mail, "Football4U will be taken over by a new company".

  The new company mentioned in the letter was none other than Danny's Singaporean events management outfit. Fuck.

  As I sat staring at the computer screen in bewilderment, I remembered the day when Danny had come seeking my help; he was desperate.

  "Hey Wilson", he had pleaded, "I'm struggling. Why don't you give me a job? I've got a wife, I'm going to have a kid soon, I have an outstanding car loan. Fuck, come on man, give me a job".

  "OK", I had said, "you can become a runner for me and take care of some of my errands. But Danny, you know the nature of this job. If something goes wrong and you end up being caught, I don't want your mother, your brother or your wife pointing their fingers in my direction. Do you understand?"

  I've always tried not to drag my personal friends into the match-fixing business because, when one gets arrested, people have the tendency to blame others for it. In the end, everyone should take responsibility for their actions and decisions. I considered Danny to be a real friend until that very day, when he attempted to take over my business behind my back. I confronted him about the e-mail.

  "I thought that you'd never come out of prison again", he stuttered. "I thought that my company could take over and preserve your business so I decided to send the message".

  Although I was burning with rage, I gave Danny the benefit of the doubt; I guess that, given the circumstances, I would have acted in the same manner. After all, Danny hadn't stolen my money this time around. I had recently sent him to the United States with 200 thousand dollars to pay some players for me and he had behaved properly. He had traveled with his mistress, each of them carrying 100 thousand dollars in their pockets, and they had not overstepped their bounds. I decided to buy Danny's version of the story and give him another chance.

  On February 24th, 2010, the USA were playing an international friendly match against El Salvador in Tampa, Florida. Since my passport was impounded, I needed somebody to travel there and run the show for me so I sent Danny out once again. I had started preparing for this match before my three-week detention. Although I had some money that I could wager on the game, I spread the word that I was looking for bosses to finance my venture so that I could maximize my profits. After much networking, I came across Harry who agreed to finance the fix together with a friend of his named George.

  The day before the game in the United States, however, Harry and I tried to manipulate an AFC Cup match between the Malaysian state team Selangor FA and Binh Duong FC, a Vietnamese side, in Shah Alam, Malaysia. We wanted the Malaysian team to lose but I guess that the Vietnamese were also fixing and Harry and I lost 100 thousand dollars each on the game. Then, right before leaving for the US, Harry confessed to me that those had been his last 100 thousand dollars, that he had no more money for the fix in the United States and asked me to lend him 50 thousand dollars, which I readily made available to him.

  "Wilson", Harry admitted in a distraught tone, "I'm desperate and have no money left to lose. I'm going to take the risk and get the credit for this match from Ah Kang. If I lose, I won't be able to pay up. That means I'll be fucked".

  After the trick I had pulled on Ah Kang at the Sheraton Hotel, I had heard rumors that he had approached Harry and his trade group to settle the score with me. I was well aware of the risks of teaming up with Harry but was also ready to face anyone around a table. I knew that I was in the right and, when you're in the right, you don't have to fear anyone: you fuck me up, I fuck you back. No one had come looking for me yet; everyone knew that Ah Kang had fucked me up first and that I was now on level terms with him.

  "You can go to Ah Kang", I said to Harry, "I don't care who you go to, just find the money for the match. After landing the game, you cover me for two or three hundred thousand on the following fixture".

  Harry agreed and called Ah Kang to convince him to do business on the USA vs El Salvador game, but Ah Kang refused.

  "Why should I do your ticket", asked Ah Kang, "when I've already found out the score for this match by paying a mere ten thousand dollars to a Chinese informer?"

  Harry failed to inform me that Ah Kang had turned down his offer and that he had been tipped off on our match. Harry traveled with Danny and George to Tampa, Florida, as if everything were running smoothly as planned.

  Once in the US, the trio was joined by Armando, a friend of Armando and Javier, our Panamanian travel agent. Armando and the others had arranged for six El Salvadorean players to meet with Harry and the boys before the match. As soon as Danny called to update me on the situation, I instructed him meticulously on what he was supposed to say and do.

  "Look Danny", I slowly explained, "make sure that you meet the El Salvador boys before Harry does. Since none of them speak English, Javier will be making the introductions. You get Armando and his friend to pose as two additional players, bringing the total number of footballers from six to eight. This way we will quote Harry and Ah Kang 180 thousand dollars instead of 150 thousand".

  The 30 thousand dollar surcharge was supposed to cover the cost of the airfares and accommodation for Danny, George, Armando, Javier and Armando's friend.

  "Do you understand?" I asked Danny.

  "Yes, boss".

  This was one of the simplest instructions that I have ever handed out in my life. Around an hour later, I received a call from Harry.

  "Wilson", he was confused, "why is Danny saying that there are eight El Salvador players ready to do business while Javier is saying that there are only six?"

  "Is it so?" mother-fucker, I knew it. "Let me check with Danny and get back to you".

  I called Danny once again and fucked him up and down like I've never fucked anyone before.

  "You dumb mother-fucker", I yelled. "I told you, didn't I?
You had to be the first person to meet the boys and all you had to do was tell Javier to tell Harry that there were eight players on board and not six. Please explain to me what wasn't clear in what I had told you to do?"

  Danny was the perfect personification of the "never judge a book by its cover" idiom. His cover was glossy and smart, but the contents of the book were completely fucked. In the end, despite Danny's lack of a thinking brain, everything seemed to be ready for the United States vs El Salvador game. Then, right before the match kicked off, I received another call from Harry.

  "Wilson", he said, "the volume is too small. It's just not worth it. I'm calling the game off".

  I immediately checked on a number of gambling websites and found that the volumes offered were extremely low; one click was only 400 dollars, a very rare occurrence for an international friendly fixture.

  "You are right", I said to Harry. "It's not worth it".

  I shut my computer down and began thinking about the following match. But when USA vs El Salvador kicked off, the volumes suddenly rose to 12 thousand dollars per click; they were huge. Harry, however, failed to inform me again and decided to act on his own. He joined hands with Danny, who had by then revealed the two-extra-players plot to him, and the duo decided to double cross me. Harry called Ah Kang and convinced him that the information that he had bought on the match from his Chinese informer was unreliable; he pulled Ah Kang into the fix then, at half time, instructed the El Salvadoreans to concede two goals before the end of the match. The first half had ended nil-nil then, at the beginning of the second half, El Salvador netted a goal. At that point, the six corrupt El Salvadoreans went to work; they conceded the equalizer in the 75th minute then, during injury time, their goalkeeper made a silly pass to one of the defenders, who was dispossessed of the ball, allowing the US to score their second goal. Final result: 2-1. Two goals conceded in the second half; Harry and Danny had won their bet.

  I was totally in the dark about what had happened in Florida. When I spoke to Harry's friend George after the match, he fed me a bullshit story about a day spent at the casino in Miami. I later found out that the fuckers had cheated me thanks to a silly mistake that they made. Danny called his uncle, asking him to fly from Singapore to the US with money for the players, and used my travel agency to book the ticket. I was the agency's best client ever, flying 30 people around the globe at any given time of the year. My travel agent was loyal to me and thought to inform me the minute she issued Danny's uncle's ticket.

  "Good day Wilson", she announced, "did you know that Danny's uncle is traveling to Los Angeles with money, about 70 thousand dollars?"

  "Oh, I didn't know that", I replied, marveling at her punctuality on the exact amount of cash that Danny's uncle was carrying. "Thank you for the information".

  "Don't tell anybody that I was the one who informed you", she added.

  "Don't worry".

  Why buy the ticket from my travel agent when you know that I might find out about it? I told you, Danny is one of the dumbest mother-fuckers that I've ever encountered. I remember that he once came asking me for financial help.

  "All right", I said to him. "Find a financier and raise some money by this date. I have a sure win game in my hands and you can invest on it for free".

  On the day of the match I was so busy that I completely forgot about Danny. I remembered about him much later in the evening, after the match, when I was about to go to sleep, and rang him up.

  "You fucker, why didn't you get in touch with me?" I asked. "Did I not tell you that I had a game today?"

  "I don't have your number", Danny stammered.

  "You could have sent me an e-mail, you stupid fucker. You have my e-mail address. It's your ass that's on fire, not mine".

  "My internet at home is down", Danny lamented, giving with one of the lamest excuses that I have ever heard.

  "If your internet is not working then fucking get your ass into an internet café and send me a message".

  That time I felt so sorry for the stupid fucker that I gave him nine thousand dollars from my own pocket.

  Harry and Danny were flying Danny's uncle to Los Angeles because El Salvador was set to play another friendly match against Guatemala there on March 3rd; the fuckers needed money to bribe the players. I called Harry and, without revealing what I knew, subtly inquired about the game in LA. Harry guaranteed that he wouldn't be fixing that one either.

  When he came back to Singapore, I decided not to put a tough face on. How could I blame Harry when Danny, one of my own men, had betrayed me.

  "I did those matches", Harry admitted candidly when I asked him, "but it's your fault. You tipped off the Chinese guy who called Ah Kang and sold him the information on the match for ten thousand dollars. You're the one who fucked it up for all of us first".

  "It was not me", I said, "do you have this Chinese guy's number?"

  Harry said that he did. I dialed the number from my mobile but received no answer. Five minutes later, Mega called me.

  "Wilson", he asked, "why are you calling my Chinese guy?"

  "How is this Chinese man yours, Mega?" I asked.

  The Chinese man was none other than Ah Lim, Mega's Chinese taxi driver friend.

  "Well", he explained, "we sold the El Salvador game to Ah Kang for ten thousand dollars".

  "You mother-fucker", I shouted. "Because of your big mouth, Harry and Danny have fucked me up. Everything is now in the bin because of you".

  That is one of the reasons why, when you fix a match, you should try to keep the information close to your heart. There are people out there who will keep track of which countries you have visited and so forth; and they're not police officials. The information on the match had come to Mega's ears when I had shopped around for a financier; I had been very careless and was now paying due.

  I set up a meeting with Danny as soon as he returned to Singapore. We met at a restaurant in Little India; we were sitting at a table facing each other.

  "Did you do the El Salvador games behind my back?" I asked.

  "No, I didn't", he replied.

  "Danny", I said calmly, "you're a man, I'm a man. Tell me whether you did these matches or not. Can you swear upon your son that you didn't fix these games?"

  "Don't bring my son into this", Danny began to raise his voice.

  "All right", I was losing my patience, "I'll ask you one more time, man to man, just me and you. Did you do these matches?"

  "So what if I did them with another boss?" Danny answered defiantly.

  "You mother-fucker", I got up from my chair. "You try to repeat that one more time".

  I wanted to take my chair and swing it in his face.

  "You traveled at my expense, you used my pocket money and then you come here with that face and tell me, 'So what if I did this with another boss?'"

  My hand was firmly gripping the chair's backrest; if I didn't have a pending case going, I would have smashed it in his face. I was debating whether or not to do it anyways. You don't speak to a friend the way Danny spoke to me, especially one who gave you bread and butter for over a year and with whom you've been best friends since you were 16. I was furious.

  "Danny", I thundered, "you come outside. Try me one on one. Let's go".

  But he didn't want to fight me; he just got up and walked away.

  CHAPTER XIV

  Farewell to Singapore

  I don't have to be physically present to arrange a fix. I just pick up the telephone, speak to a guy, and he can get things done. It doesn't work every time but it allows me to juggle several business deals at once.

  The 2010 South Africa World Cup friendly warm-up matches were my idea. I had thought about the scheme four years earlier, right after being released from prison. I was sitting in front of the television watching the live telecast of the warm-up matches played before the 2006 World Cup in Germany.

  "Fuck", I thought, "there is no real football involved here. All you have to do is put two teams together and you
can make big money".

  Then, in 2010, the idea resurfaced in my mind.

  "Why don't I get my referees to officiate the warm-up matches before the 2010 World Cup in South Africa?" I thought. "After all, it's Africa, not Europe, where there are too many questions asked and strict regulations to follow. In Africa it can be done".

  With a few months to go before the World Cup warm-up matches, I sat in front of my computer and prepared a formal letter; a proposal asking for the South African Football Association (SAFA), to support African referees in the coming competitions. The letter bore the stamp of Football4U, my company, and was signed by me. I sent the missive to the SAFA president, Kirsten Nematandani, and to their CEO, Leslie Sedibe, to sound out the terrain.

  On the same day that the letter went out, Football4U was struck off the Singapore company register and, five days later, it was renamed Exclusive Sports. The mistake that I made was to keep the same registration number. I should have closed the old company and opened up a new one, instead, I left a mark of continuity.

  After completing the groundwork for the South African operation, I called Anthony.

  "Anthony", I said, "I need you to go to South Africa and speak with their Football Association".

  I booked a ticket for Anthony, gave him about three thousand dollars worth of pocket money, two laptops and a few good mobile phones, just in case he needed to appease someone. I also gave Anthony a CC copy of the letter that I had mailed to SAFA; I instructed him to try to approach the FA's head of referees and off he went. Anthony flew to Johannesburg, South Africa, and took a taxi to the SAFA headquarters. Once there, he managed to speak to a SAFA official named Jacob and asked him to be introduced to their head of referees, Steve Goddard. The two met and Anthony offered Goddard some money so that he wouldn't trouble us; we thought it wiser to have the head of referees in our good books.

  "Mr. Goddard", proposed Anthony, "keep these three thousand dollars for your expenses. It's a goodwill gesture from our sponsor".