Punter Steve Fletcher bet on 'rort' in tennis game, Police Integrity Commission hears
Date
December 5, 2013 - 2:32PM
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Kate McClymont



Steve Fletcher arrives at the Police Integrity Commission on Thursday. Photo: Peter Rae
Controversial punter Steve Fletcher received inside information from a former tennis professional to wager on a "rort in tennis" and a Victorian stablehand told him about an injury to a horse, explosive phone taps have revealed.

A series of intercepted phone calls have been aired at the Police Integrity Commission, which is examining how Mr Fletcher, one of the nation's biggest gamblers, used the accounts of NSW police officers to disguise his betting activities.

The hearing has been told that corporate bookmakers cancel the accounts of winning punters. Even those who lose by a margin of less than 7 per cent have their betting accounts cancelled.

In January this year, Mr Fletcher received a call from a former Australian tennis professional, whose name has been suppressed.


"There is a rort in the tennis," said the former pro, who wanted Mr Fletcher to wager on a women's doubles match at the Thailand Open. The players mentioned in the conversation were Irina Buryachok from the Ukraine and Valeria Solovyeva from Russia.

"Have we got any bowlers with Sportsbet?" the former player asked Mr Fletcher.

Earlier Mr Fletcher explained that a "bowler" was a person who placed bets on behalf of another person for a small commission.

The inquiry has heard that between 15 and 20 police officers were used as "bowlers" for Mr Fletcher and another gambler who is yet to give evidence, Darren Azzopardi.

Mr Fletcher agreed that the phrase a "rort in the tennis" could suggest the match was fixed, but he said in this case he thought it meant the players were in a "class above" the others and that he didn't pay much attention to it.

He said the former tennis pro would have had someone in Pattaya watching the match, who would have given him the information.

However, the next call revealed him trying to find a "bowler" so that he could put money on the match.

In another call from October 20, 2012, Mr Fletcher was heard talking a Victorian stablehand, whose name was also suppressed.

"Your phone's not bugged, is it?" asks the stablehand. "I don't know, could be," replied Mr Fletcher in the intercepted call.

The stablehand reported that a horse called Mosheen "can't f---in' win" because it had back problems. Mr Fletcher agreed that he "laid" or bet against Mosheen.

As it turned out, star mare Mosheen, the favourite at the Trisarc Stakes at Caulfield, never raced again after fracturing her leg in a race which took place later on the same day as the intercepted call.
Mr Fletcher's barrister, Phillip Boulten, SC, objected to the series of phone intercepts, saying that if a police officer was not involved "none of this is relevant". Counsel assisting the inquiry, Peter Hamill, SC, successfully argued that during this period Mr Fletcher was using the accounts of a "whole series" of police officers in order to disguise his betting activities.

Fairfax Media has previously revealed Mr Fletcher's ability to gain inside information about tennis matches. "Steve loves to play tennis but even more to bet on it," wrote his friend Scott Woodward in his book Living and Learning with the World's Biggest Punters.

Woodward told of going to the Australian Open in Melbourne. "Steve mentioned that he had 'a good thing' as his spies had reported that one of the players was unable to make the early morning warm-up and things didn't seem good." According to Woodward, Mr Fletcher took advantage of the "incorrect odds" on the fit player.

In 2011, Mr Fletcher was disqualified from betting for a year by Racing Queensland after an investigation found he had prior knowledge that Bold Glance's jockey, Bobby El-Issa, would not ride to win. Mr Fletcher had backed the winner and bet that Bold Glance would not win.

The inquiry found Mr Fletcher was a close associate of the jockey, who was disqualified for 18 months. Mr Fletcher's ban was later overturned on appeal.



Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/punter-st...l#ixzz2ma954HPr

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__________________
One Drive

"If the corporates are treating you poorly , just go elsewhere."
"If they need you , they will soon find out."
"If you need them , you will soon find out." --moeee
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I can't figure out how the different corps make their decision. I was stopped from using superprice with one bookie when I had regularly taken withdrawals from profitable exacta bets. Another stopped me from betting exotics when I couldn't remember winning much with them at all. Maybe they were in cahoots with each other.

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Dear Lord
Please let me break even. I need the money.

A lot of them are owned by the same company and share information.

For example IAS and Centrebet are owned by William hill from memory.

Wouldn't be the first industry to share risk-related data 'off the record' - especially amongst the biggest players.. have heard of this same thing elsewhere and on a much bigger scale. Not in the same group however. Think top 20 by market cap.

LG

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The trick isn't finding profitable angles, it's finding ones you will bet through the ups and downs - UB

Casinos do it, so what not bookies.

__________________
One Drive

"If the corporates are treating you poorly , just go elsewhere."
"If they need you , they will soon find out."
"If you need them , you will soon find out." --moeee
_______________________________________________

Punter Steve Fletcher's phone records could reveal tennis rort as corruption inquiry continues

DateDecember 6, 2013
Kate McClymont

The possibility of match-fixing on the international women's tennis circuit has been raised via telephone intercepts played at a police corruption inquiry.

The NSW Police Integrity Commission played a call made on January 30, 2013, in which a former Australian tennis professional rang one of the nation's largest punters, Steve Fletcher, telling him there is a ''rort in tennis''.

The former player, whose name was suppressed by the inquiry, wanted Fletcher to wager on a women's doubles match at the Pattaya Open in Thailand. The players mentioned in the conversation were Irina Buryachok from Ukraine and Valeria Solovyeva from Russia. On that day the pair defeated Thai Noppawan Lertcheewakarn and Ksenia Palkina from Kyrgyzstan.

Fletcher agreed that the phrase a ''rort in the tennis'' could suggest the match was fixed, but he said in this case he thought it meant the players were in a ''class above'' the others.

In another call, Fletcher was heard receiving inside information from a Victorian stablehand about an injury to star mare Mosheen.

The stablehand said the horse ''can't f---in' win'' because she had back problems. Fletcher agreed that he ''laid'' or bet against Mosheen. That same day, October 20, 2012, Mosheen, the favourite in a race at Caulfield, fractured her leg and never raced again.

''Your phone's not bugged, is it?'' the stablehand asked in the call.

''I don't know, could be,'' Fletcher replied.

Fairfax Media has reported that Betfair records seized by authorities revealed Fletcher's suspicious betting activity in relation to a top Melbourne jockey. The analysis suggests Fletcher may have been getting inside information that the jockey could not win certain races.

Over six weeks in 2012, at the time Fletcher was using police accounts to disguise his bets, Fletcher risked more than $200,000 to win about $70,000 when he successfully bet that this jockey could not win in more than 12 races.

Several of the horses Fletcher gambled on to lose were highly rated by bookmakers, including a second-favourite horse on which Fletcher risked $45,000 by betting it could not win.

In 2011, Fletcher was disqualified from betting for a year by Racing Queensland after an investigation found he had prior knowledge that jockey Bobby El-Issa would not ride to win. The inquiry found Fletcher was a close associate of the jockey, who was disqualified for 18 months. Fletcher's ban was later overturned on appeal.

Fletcher was accompanied to Thursday's PIC inquiry by an employee, Chelsea McDonald, daughter of bookmaker Wayne McDonald.

In 2003 Wayne McDonald was fined $56,500 and had his clerk suspended for six months after a stewards inquiry.

Fletcher's evidence continues.


Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/sport/horsera...l#ixzz2mfalLVa3

Steve Fletcher hearing told betting agency workers face jail for tip-offs

DateDecember 7, 2013

Kate McClymont

Senior Reporter

Employees of a number of online betting agencies could face possible jail terms after phone taps revealed they tipped off controversial gambler Steve Fletcher that the Police Integrity Commission had subpoenaed their records.

Although it is a criminal offence to disclose information that might compromise a PIC investigation, a BetEzy employee rang Mr Fletcher in March to alert him that the ''integrity blokes'' had been in with a subpoena that contained seven names.

''I know that my name is on the list and [two names suppressed],'' Mr Fletcher told the BetEzy employee, whose name was suppressed.

A bookmaker.com employee also leaked the details of a subpoena to Mr Fletcher.

Other phone taps were played that revealed several corporate bookmaking employees tipped off Mr Fletcher when their organisations became suspicious of his ''bodgy'' accounts.

One employee of Bet365 warned him they had noticed one of the accounts Mr Fletcher was using to disguise his bets indicated the gambler was ''sharp with horses''.

The hearing is examining the relationship between Mr Fletcher and homicide detective Tony ''Soup'' Williams and Senior Constable Marc Smith from Tactical Operations.

Detective Williams was introduced to Mr Fletcher by Mr Fletcher's close friend senior Crown Prosecutor Margaret Cunneen, SC, whose son Steven Wyllie later went to work for Mr Fletcher. The three men enjoyed a jaunt to Las Vegas for Mr Wyllie's 21st birthday.

Officers Williams and Smith organised 15 to 20 police, who were paid about $500 each, to set up betting accounts for Mr Fletcher and another punter, Darren Azzopardi, who were barred from the betting agencies. The inquiry heard $250,000 passed through one policeman's account in two to three weeks.

''The word deception doesn't come into it, in my eyes,'' Mr Fletcher said when asked about using other people's identities to deceive bookmakers into accepting bets that they would not have taken from him.

''That's the brinkmanship of the racing world … That's not regarded as deception,'' he said.

He said it was so normal that a senior employee at the TAB, whose name was suppressed, ''has full awareness of what I was doing''.

The bugged conversations revealed that inside information was also central to Mr Fletcher's gambling success. In one conversation with Mr Azzopardi on November 2, 2012, Mr Azzopardi said, ''We've been setting up a dog for six weeks'', and that he planned to put $30,000 on it.

The pair then discuss how they will hide their bets and use their own accounts to throw off suspicion by betting on the wrong greyhound.

Mr Azzopardi will give evidence when the inquiry resumes on December 17.


Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/steve-fle...l#ixzz2mjkX82Od