A Malaysian, suspected to be the ringleader of a match-fixing scam at a Melbourne football club, reportedly told the police that he was a “small fry” in a larger international syndicate, a court in Melbourne was told today.

Segaran ‘Gerry’ Subramaniam, 45, has been accused of receiving instructions from Hungary and Malaysia on what the results of Southern Stars soccer matches in Melbourne should be, reports the Australian Associated Press.

At his bail hearing in the Melbourne magistrate’s court today, Detective  Senior Sergeant Scott Poynder said Subramaniam had links to other clubs in the states of Victoria, Queensland and overseas.

He said there was evidence that Subramaniam had received about A$230,000 (about RM686,680) in money transfers in the past three months.

When interviewed, Subramaniam told police that he was just a “small fry” in the syndicate, and was not involved for very long.

Four English Southern Stars players and their Australian coach Zia Younan have also been charged with engaging in conduct that could corrupt the outcome of a betting event.

The match-fixing allegations relate to the Southern Stars’ last four games, in which the team conceded 13 goals without scoring.

The team has played 21 games this season for just one win, with 16 losses and four draws.

The court heard the four charged players - Reiss Noel, 24, David Obaze, 23, Joe Woolley, 23, and 27-year-old Nicholas McKoy - were in Australia on working holiday and tourist visas.

Poynder said Subramaniam told police that the money he received was to pay the players’ wages, accommodation bills and car rental expenses.

One of the players had expressed fear of Subramaniam and had put a chair against his hotel door to stop people from breaking in, he added.

'Unacceptable flight risk'

Prosecutor Peter Rose said Subramaniam posed an unacceptable flight risk as he had no permanent ties with Australia.

Subramaniam came to Australia from Malaysia on a tourist visa which is due to expire this weekend.

It remains unclear where he would stay if he is released on bail, with Rose  describing him as an unacceptable flight risk.

“He is, we say, part of a large international syndicate that is operating in this country,” he said.

“If he goes out of the country, we have got no way of getting him back.”

Magistrate Jelena Popovic has delayed her decision on bail to get more information about Subramaniam’s accommodation prospects here.

Defence lawyer Michael Gleeson said Subramaniam had no criminal record and had entered the country legally and on his own passport.

Subramaniam’s bail hearing was to resume later today.

The coach and the four players have been granted bail, and have been ordered not to attend any soccer matches sanctioned by the Football Federation of Australia (FFA).

Their case will next be heard at the Melbourne magistrate’s court in December.

Meanwhile, the police in Singapore arrested 14 people this week over a global match-fixing ring, which included links to European football, the Australian newspaper reports.

Dan Tan Seet Eng, suspected to be one of the world’s most notorious match-fixers, was among those nabbed.

The newspaper said prosecutors in Italy had accused Tan of coordinating a global crime syndicate that made millions of dollars betting on rigged Italian matches and other games worldwide.

The arrests were of “extraordinary” significance and took down “the world’s largest match-fixing operation based in Singapore”, Interpol secretary-general Ronald K Noble told the newspaper today.

- Bernama