By Andrew Warshaw
December 2 – Within days of declaring him a free man after two years in detention, Singapore authorities have re-arrested Dan Tan, one of the world’s most notorious match-fixing kingpins accused of being the mastermind behind a global syndicate.
Dan Tan, also known as Tan Seet Eng, had been held indefinitely without trial since October 2013 but was released last week under a court order. Police said his re-arrest was over “suspected involvement in criminal activities” and that investigations were ongoing.
Tan insists he is innocent and his lawyer, Hamidul Haq, said he was trying to find out exactly why his client was back in custody.
“We are still finding out what the next steps are,” Haq told the Associated Press. “We will want to try to see him to take instructions. I don’t know if the police will allow that.”
Tan, who allegedly operated hundreds of scams across Europe as well as in Egypt, South Africa, Nigeria and Trinidad and Tobago, is wanted by several countries but Singapore does not have extradition treaties with them. Interpol has previously described him as “the mastermind and leader of the world’s most notorious match-fixing syndicate”.
Tan was on almost every football crime-busting wanted list before being one of 14 people arrested in a crackdown on match-fixing cartels and was subsequently detained under Singapore’s Criminal Law (Temporary Provisions) Act.
Although his syndicate has long been assumed to have been based in Singapore, Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon, in an 82-page judgement, last week ruled that while his alleged acts were “reprehensible and should not be condoned, there is nothing to suggest whether, or how, these activities could be thought to have a bearing on the public safety, peace and good order within Singapore. The matches fixed, whether or not successfully, all took place beyond our shores.”
FIFA has already stated it was disappointed with last week’s court of appeal ruling but international pressure was not a factor in Tan’s re-arrest, according to Singapore’s Home Affairs and Law Minister K Shanmugam.
“We don’t arrest or release people based on international pressure, we do what is right for Singapore,” Shanmugam told a press conference.
Former FIFA head of security Chris Eaton, who now works for the International Centre for Sports Security and who lambasted the decision to free Tan, tweeted on Tuesday after finding out about his re-arrest: “I am pleased that the Singapore criminal justice system continues to work assertively on match-fixing investigations and prosecution.”
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