---
title: 'How Sports Crimes Actually Work — From FIFA Corruption to Illegal Betting'
source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=XNHbSAKAjk0'
video_id: 'XNHbSAKAjk0'
date: 2026-08-05
duration_sec: 9026
---

# How Sports Crimes Actually Work — From FIFA Corruption to Illegal Betting

> Source: [How Sports Crimes Actually Work — From FIFA Corruption to Illegal Betting](https://youtube.com/watch?v=XNHbSAKAjk0)

## Summary

This video is a marathon compilation that explores the dark underbelly of sports through the firsthand accounts of three individuals: Victor Conte, founder of BALCO, who details his role in creating and distributing designer steroids; Moses Swaibu, a former footballer who became a match fixer; and Bonita Mersiades, a whistleblower from the Australian World Cup bid. The video also features Owen Hanson, a former USC football player who ran an illegal sports betting empire. Together, they expose the systemic corruption, doping, and crime that pervade professional sports.

### Key Points

- **Introduction to the Marathon** [00:02] — The video introduces three individuals: Bonita Mersiades (FIFA corruption whistleblower), Owen Hanson (illegal sports betting), and Victor Conte (designer steroids). They will explain 'how crime works' in sports.
- **Victor Conte's Doping Operation** [00:43] — Conte describes circumventing drug testing for 4 years, providing athletes with designer steroids like 'the clear' (THG) and other substances, leading to world records and gold medals.
- **The Clear and THG** [01:47] — Conte bought a substance from chemist Patrick Arnold called 'the clear' (THG), an undetectable designer steroid. He tested it on himself and then gave it to athletes like Bill Romanowski and Tim Montgomery.
- **Doping Protocols and Masking** [03:01] — Conte developed a complex protocol: athletes took 'the clear' on Mondays and Wednesdays, and a testosterone/epitestosterone cream on Tuesdays and Thursdays to mask the TE ratio. They also used growth hormone and EPO.
- **Victor's Short Leash** [04:28] — Conte created monthly calendars for athletes detailing when to take each drug. This was called 'Victor's short leash.' He sent packets via FedEx and consulted with athletes.
- **Marion Jones and the 2000 Olympics** [05:29] — Conte worked with Marion Jones, providing her with growth hormone and EPO during the 2000 Sydney Olympics, where she won three gold and two bronze medals. He notes that testing for these hormones was not done at the time.
- **History of Doping and Testing** [07:11] — The first doping tests were in 1968. In 1976, only a dozen anabolic steroids were tested, but not testosterone. Out-of-competition testing only began in 1990. Athletes used drugs months before competitions to get carryover benefits.
- **Testing Loopholes** [08:35] — Before BALCO, testers only tested endurance athletes for EPO, not sprinters. In Sydney 2000, only long-distance runners were tested for EPO, so sprinters like Marion Jones were not tested for growth hormone or EPO.
- **WADA's Founding and Motives** [09:37] — WADA was founded in 1999 for the 2000 Olympics. Conte believes it was founded to protect sponsors' logos, not athlete health. The Olympic Partner Program (TOP) raises $2 billion from companies like McDonald's, Coca-Cola, and Toyota.
- **Cover-ups and Corruption** [10:43] — Conte recounts a 1988 Olympics cover-up where five positive drug tests were swept under the rug. He realized that corruption exists from the top (TV networks, IOC) to the bottom (athletes).
- **Russian Doping Conspiracy** [12:54] — Conte describes the Russian doping scheme led by Grigory Rodchenkov, where urine samples were swapped through a hole in the wall with FSB assistance. This was featured in the Icarus film.
- **ZMA and Motivation** [14:22] — Conte created ZMA, a legal supplement, and made millions from it. He claims he was not motivated by money but by the challenge and excitement. He calls himself a 'project team leader.'
- **Project World Record** [15:34] — Conte hired Charlie Francis (Ben Johnson's coach) and Miloš Šarčev to help Tim Montgomery. He paid them but not Montgomery. The project aimed to break the 100m world record.
- **Consequences and Prison** [17:06] — Conte served 4 months in prison for distributing steroids. He regrets the shame he brought to his family and the widespread damage caused. He has been an anti-doping advocate since 2005.
- **Current Doping Loopholes** [18:50] — Conte explains that current testing has loopholes: out-of-competition tests don't cover about 80 stimulants and narcotics. Athletes use endogenous hormones like testosterone, growth hormone, and EPO, micro-dosing at night to avoid detection.
- **Athletes' Dilemma** [20:25] — Conte believes athletes would prefer to compete clean but are forced to dope to be competitive. In a 100m race, PEDs can make you 2-4 meters faster, making it impossible to reach the final without them.
- **Enhanced Games and Dangers** [21:07] — Conte criticizes the proposed Enhanced Games, which would allow drug use under medical supervision. He warns of dangers like EPO-related deaths in cycling and cardiac arrest from stimulants.
- **Redemption and Advocacy** [22:29] — Conte now works with boxers, running SNAC (Scientific Nutrition for Advanced Conditioning). He has worked with 28 world champions and advocates for stringent testing like VADA's 24/7/365 testing.
- **Moses Swaibu's Match Fixing** [25:03] — Swaibu describes his first encounter with match fixing at Lincoln City, where a Russian man offered $60,000 to lose a game. He declined but later became involved with a Chinese syndicate.
- **Chinese Syndicate and First Fix** [27:28] — Swaibu details a meeting at the Mayfair Hotel with a Chinese syndicate. They agreed to fix a game between Eastbourne and Bromley, conceding two goals in the first half. The fix was nearly ruined by players attacking, but they managed to lose 1-0.
- **Data and Analytics in Fixing** [32:18] — Swaibu explains how syndicates use data and analytics to target players. They analyze players' weaknesses and instruct them on specific actions, like getting a yellow card in the first 10 minutes (spot fixing).
- **Hierarchy and Communication** [34:24] — Swaibu describes the hierarchy: the main man, his right-hand man, and the players. Communication was often emoji-based on Skype or Telegram. He collected money in restaurants, sometimes receiving £50,000 in takeaway bags.
- **Why Players Get Involved** [36:51] — Swaibu explains that players are targeted because they are vulnerable: low pay, career pressure, and grooming. He notes that referees and coaches are harder to corrupt due to governance, but players are easier.
- **Manipulation and Justification** [38:26] — Swaibu describes how managers can manipulate players, e.g., not paying them, which justifies their actions. He used his influence to recruit players, offering loans and favors.
- **Failures and Arrest** [40:15] — Swaibu recounts two incidents that went wrong: one player got too involved, and another (Michael Boateng) was arrested. He was eventually arrested after a sting operation by the National Crime Agency.
- **Spotting Match Fixing** [44:09] — Swaibu says it's nearly impossible to spot match fixing visually. Data and analytics can detect anomalies, but fans rarely notice. He explains that line movements in betting markets can indicate a fix.
- **Betting Market Manipulation** [45:59] — Swaibu describes how syndicates use mules in the crowd to relay live information to adjust bets. They exploited delays in Asian markets to place bets after knowing the outcome.
- **Retirement and Third Syndicate** [47:10] — Swaibu retired from football but was pulled back by the Singaporean syndicate. He was arrested while trying to teach Michael Boateng a lesson, leading to his conviction.
- **Arrest and Conviction** [51:19] — Swaibu was arrested for conspiracy to defraud the betting trade. He served 4 months in prison and 4 months on tag. He was banned from football for 15 years.
- **Impact and Redemption** [55:32] — Swaibu reflects on the impact of his actions, including affecting innocent players. He now works as an integrity educator, speaking at the European Council and Premier League clubs. His book is 'Fixed: My Secret Life of a Match Fixer.'
- **Improvements and Gaps** [58:34] — Swaibu notes that integrity officers have been added, but there's still a lack of evidence and support for players who come forward. He emphasizes the need for bravery and reporting.
- **Bonita Mersiades on FIFA Corruption** [01:01:23] — Mersiades describes the Australian World Cup bid process, where $80-85 million was requested, but only $48 million was approved. She questioned the need for such large sums and noted that the decision was based on deals, not merit.
- **No Rules and Collusion** [01:04:09] — There were no limits on bid spending and no rules on what to spend on. FIFA set up collusion by having two World Cups at once, encouraging vote trading. Bidders created dossiers on executive committee members.
- **Consultants and Secrecy** [01:06:28] — Australia employed secret consultants, including Fedor Radmann and Peter Hargitay, who were never to be mentioned. They were seen as key to winning. Mersiades learned about them from the book 'Foul' by Andrew Jennings.
- **Jack Warner and Bribes** [01:09:15] — Australia gave $500,000 to upgrade a stadium in Trinidad and Tobago to please Jack Warner, a powerful FIFA executive. The money ended up in Warner's personal account. Gifts like pearl necklaces were given to executive members.
- **Oceania's Vote** [01:13:12] — Australia needed Oceania's vote. Reynald Temarii requested $4 million for sports development, which was split among Pacific nations. This was the first time such a payment was made, solely to secure the vote.
- **Qatar's Rise** [01:15:12] — Qatar emerged as a surprise bidder. Despite disadvantages like heat and lack of hotels, they had the support of Mohammed bin Hammam. FIFA allowed them to change the World Cup dates to November/December.
- **Bin Hammam's Influence** [01:17:05] — The Amir of Qatar ordered bin Hammam to support the Qatar bid, and he did so wholeheartedly. This led to Qatar winning the 2022 World Cup.
- **Australia's Disadvantage** [01:18:27] — Jerome Valcke told Australia they wouldn't win because they couldn't match US TV revenues. Australia considered withdrawing but instead commissioned a PwC report claiming Asia's future TV revenues would be huge.
- **Qatar's Financial Power** [01:20:07] — Al Jazeera signed a $100 million production contribution deal with FIFA if Qatar won. Qatar Airways replaced Emirates as a sponsor. This shows how state-backed entities can influence decisions.
- **Attempts to Influence Qatar** [01:21:36] — Australia considered offering Qatar landing rights for Qatar Airways or supporting Doha's Olympic bid in exchange for withdrawal. These attempts were unsuccessful.
- **Russia's Win** [01:22:47] — Mersiades predicted Russia would win 2018 due to Blatter's preference. Australia's consultants advised partnering with Russia, but they lost. Russia won, and the consultants celebrated with them.
- **Temarii's Suspension** [01:25:21] — Temarii was suspended for asking for $4 million from undercover journalists. This left Oceania without a vote, hurting Australia's chances. Australia received only one vote, likely from Blatter out of pity.
- **Mersiades' Background** [01:27:56] — Mersiades grew up with football, worked as a team manager, and joined FFA in 2007. She faced misogyny in the male-dominated administration.
- **Exposure and Sacking** [01:29:44] — Peter Hargitay was exposed in the media, and Mersiades was blamed. She was sacked in January 2010 for raising concerns. She then became a whistleblower.
- **Whistleblower Consequences** [01:31:31] — Mersiades faced threats, surveillance, and fake accounts. She was told she'd never work in Australia again. She started Fair Play Publishing, which has published 75 books.
- **FIFA Reforms** [01:33:19] — The FBI raided FIFA in 2015, leading to arrests. Blatter was suspended. The voting process changed to a Congress vote, but Mersiades argues it's still not transparent, with Infantino effectively deciding the 2034 Saudi Arabia World Cup.
- **Advice to Whistleblowers** [01:36:27] — Mersiades advises being emotionally prepared for retaliation. She doesn't regret her actions and believes in accountability, transparency, and democracy in football.
- **Owen Hanson's Betting Empire** [01:39:41] — Hanson ran an illegal sports betting business from 2007 to 2015. The illegal gambling industry handles $673 billion annually. He took a $4 million Super Bowl bet.
- **Background and Start** [01:40:26] — Hanson was a USC football player. After the 2007 recession, he lost his real estate job and became a bookie, using his network of athletes and Wall Street friends.
- **Building the Business** [01:42:42] — Hanson learned from his mentor, Yon Porter Carrero, and set up his own operation in Costa Rica. He started bettordog.com and paid per-head services, then built his own office.
- **Legal vs. Illegal Betting** [01:45:30] — Illegal bookmakers operate offshore, offer lines of credit, and don't require upfront payment. Legal sportsbooks require deposits and are regulated. Hanson's clients preferred the credit system.
- **Using USC Network** [01:47:34] — Hanson leveraged his USC championship rings and photos with famous players to attract clients. He offered perks like signed footballs and discreet service.
- **Big Bets and Clients** [01:49:07] — Hanson's biggest bet was $4 million on a Super Bowl. He had clients like NFL star Derrick Lavell and Paris Hilton. He was discreet, paying in cash or gold.
- **Inside Information and Prop Bets** [01:51:29] — Hanson used inside information to adjust odds. He explains prop bets, like who scores the first touchdown. He also expanded into live dealer table games.
- **Money Collection and Laundering** [01:54:21] — Hanson used shell companies and gold to launder money. He paid winners on Monday to encourage them to gamble more. He used ATMs and the Bank of China to move cash.
- **Gold Laundering** [01:56:37] — Hanson hid money in gold and silver. He even smuggled gold in UGG boots from Australia. He used private vaults and gold purchases to legitimize transactions.
- **Offshore and ATMs** [01:59:43] — Hanson moved money offshore to avoid US government detection. He used ATM businesses to deposit cash, making it appear legitimate.
- **Casinos and Bank of China** [02:01:28] — Casinos are the fastest way to launder money. The Bank of China allowed him to wire money worldwide with fake IDs. He used 10 aliases.
- **Lifestyle and Downfall** [02:02:22] — Hanson spent $200,000 a month on partying, watches, and mansions. He was addicted to cocaine and GHB. His downfall came when he started working with the cartel.
- **Cartel Involvement** [02:03:44] — Hanson started taking bets from a cartel member and then helped launder money. He shipped drugs internationally. He was making $1 million a day in cash.
- **Fear and Regret** [02:08:35] — Hanson lived in constant fear of the cartel. He regrets his actions and says prison saved his life. He refused to cooperate with the FBI against the cartel.
- **Intimidation Tactics** [02:10:42] — Hanson used intimidation to collect debts, including sending collectors and flowers to wives. He regrets scaring people and one incident that led to violence.
- **Early Steroid Use** [02:15:07] — Hanson started using steroids at USC to recover from injury. He smuggled them from Mexico, hiding them in his clothes. He later sold steroids to other athletes.
- **Steroid Dealing** [02:18:24] — Hanson became a black market concierge, providing steroids, Adderall, Xanax, and other drugs to students. He made a 1000% markup on Xanax.
- **Cartel and Arrest** [02:21:58] — Hanson knew he was working for the cartel but continued for the money. He was sentenced to 21.5 years for racketeering and drug distribution. He served 10 years.
- **Redemption** [02:23:38] — Hanson now runs California Ice Protein, a healthy ice cream brand. He wrote 'The California Kid' and features in the documentary 'The Cocaine Quarterback.' He believes in second chances.
- **Evolution of Betting** [02:25:00] — Betting has evolved from phone calls to apps and live wagering. Bitcoin is now used for illegal betting. Hanson regrets not accepting Bitcoin when it was $50.
- **Future of Betting** [02:26:42] — Hanson believes legal sports betting will dominate, but illegal bookmakers will persist because they offer credit. NIL deals have changed college sports, potentially reducing the need for illegal activities.
- **Conclusion** [02:29:54] — The video ends with a call to subscribe and comment on more topics.

### Conclusion

The video exposes the pervasive corruption in sports, from doping and match-fixing to bribery and illegal betting, through the personal stories of those involved. It highlights the systemic issues and the personal consequences, but also offers a message of redemption and the possibility of change.

## Transcript

footballer. >> My name is Bonita Merciadis. I was a senior executive with Football Federation Australia. I became a whistleblower when I witnessed how corruption and favors influenced the
corruption and favors influenced the decision for the 2018 and 2022 World Cup >> My name is Owen Hansen. I was a football star at USC and then ran one of the biggest illegal sports betting businesses in America. My name is Victor
Ki and I was the mastermind behind the distribution of designer steroids in the competitions. This is how crime works.
for 4 years. Circumventing the testing was like taking candy from a baby. A lot of the athletes that I worked with got very good results and broke world records and won gold medals. Of course, that brought attention to me and brought
that brought attention to me and brought scrutiny and eventually law enforcement. Laboratory Cooperative. I got a facility and I built the laboratory from the
ground up. We did comprehensive blood testing for athletes and then I designed supplement programs for them. The clear I was buying from a chemist, Patrick Arnold, and he told me that he had this liquid substance that seemed to help
with athletes recovery. So, I bought a bottle of this stuff for I think $150. It was a 100 cc bottle. And you took an eyropper and you put a couple drops under your tongue. He called it stuff, which now is referred to as THG,
tetrahydrogesterone. Somehow this chemist, he created a whole Somehow this chemist, he created a whole new steroid. Okay. And so I got some, I tried it myself. When I tested my own urine, it came back clean. It was
because they weren't testing for that because it wasn't on the market. And if it was not illegal and it was undetectable, then I started giving it to athletes, what became known as the clear at the time, which was simply an
undetectable designer steroid. The first athlete that I gave the clear to was Bill Romanowski, a football player. And then I started giving it to other world-class athletes like sprinter Tim Montgomery and some other track members
Montgomery and some other track members of the 2000 Olympic team. determine what specific nutrients that the athlete would need. And it's not
about taking mega doses of any one nutrient or any one drug. It's about a proper balance. We were using multiple different drugs. the clear. I realized
that this is way too strong to be used in the manner that I was told that it was being used. I had the athletes take a very different dosage much lower on Monday and then on Tuesday I developed this cream that had epestosterone and
testosterone to keep your TE ratio in balance that was kind of a masking agent. So they would take the clear Monday, the cream Tuesday, the clear Wednesday, the cream Thursday, then be off on Friday, Saturday, Sunday. Now
they were taking other drugs like growth hormone. You typically do that daily at night. A lot of people believe that, you know, it was all about the clear. We were using other types of drugs, including EPO. EPO is a hormone that
your body naturally produces. It gets manufactured in the bone marrow and it stimulates the production of red blood cells. So this really enhances
stamina and endurance. You can do more repetitions at a higher intensity. The definition that I got one time from a worldclass sprinter was it turns you into a machine. You simply do not get tired.
various sources, I would create a calendar for the next month on what days to take the cream, what days to take the clear, what days to inject the growth hormone, what days to inject the EPO. Everybody called it Victor's short
leash. I would send the clear and the cream in little packets uh and use FedEx and of course I would talk to them on the phone and consult with them. Some of them came and actually you know we would go train near Balco at the time and uh
so I was providing creating the programs and supervising the programs and of course I knew I was breaking the law but I also knew that these crimes were very I also knew that these crimes were very soft. So in my thinking it was okay if
something happens then do the crime serve the time. first. They were at a a track meet over in Europe and basically initially the
communication was between her husband and I and her coach and I. So I sent a and I and her coach and I. So I sent a box uh to North Carolina that had these substances in it and she started using them. We designed the highest and best
use of the growth hormone that we had. So after specific events to aid recovery for the next event, she was using growth hormone during the games with us fully
knowing that they were not testing for growth hormone. She won three gold medals and two bronze at the Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia in the year 2000. She was the absolute golden girl of the Olympic Games. She was doing Nike
commercials. Can you dig it? General Motors, Sports Illustrated. I was very excited to be there sitting at the 100 meter finish line when she ran that very fast race and won by over four meters. My role was very small. So I can't take
credit for her her victories or her medals. She was a great number one from 1997 until 2000. So she dominated for three years before I ever met her. Let
three years before I ever met her. Let me for a moment just say that I feel very bad for Marian Jones. What I know is that the other girls that were in that 100meter race with her, they didn't
get their emails or tap their phone or or do the things that they did to Marian Jones. You know, she was held to a different standard. I don't think that's right. And I feel very sad for what happened to her.
what's called a prohibited substances list. an Olympic sport. The first list. an Olympic sport. The first testing was in 1968. In 1976, they only had a test for anabolic steroids, about a dozen, but no test for testosterone,
the granddaddy. So, everybody there, they called it the testosterone games. Thereafter, they didn't have out of competition testing compared to incompetition testing until it was implemented in 1990. So in 1988 when
Flojo broke the world record in the 100 meters and 200 meters and all that there was no testing out of competition. All they had to do was taper off these drugs, show up at the Olympics and put on these monstrous performances. You
know when you use these powerful drugs, it's during training camp where the benefits come and they carry over for months and months if not years. So an
athlete that's competing in September in the Olympics is using drugs the previous October, November, December, right, with intensive weight training. Even now
today, people they test you at a competition, but the athletes are not stupid enough to have this in their system. It's when they were using it months before and then they get the carryover benefits. What the testers
were doing before Balco, even at the Olympic level, is they only tested endurance athletes that were running 10,000 meters or marathon, because they 10,000 meters or marathon, because they didn't understand that EPO is not a
performance drug that you use on on the day of the competition. It's a training drug. Well, as an example, in Sydney, Australia in 2000, they did not test anybody except the long-distance runners for EPO. So, the sprinters, Marian
Jones, and other athletes that I worked with there, they weren't even tested for growth hormone, which we used, or EPO, which we used. These are both indogenous hormones. So, circumventing the testing was like taking candy from a baby. It
was very simple. So we were actually using growth hormone at the competition using growth hormone at the competition between events. I never had any contact directly with the international Olympic committee or the United States Olympic
Committee even though later I did meet with Wada USADA the actual drug testing entities. So that's not the Olympic Committee. Wada the world anti-doping agency was founded in the year 1999 for the 2000 Olympics where I was in Sydney
with Marian. Was it founded for the health and safety of the athletes and to create a level playing field? In my opinion, it was founded to protect the logos of the sponsors of the Olympic Games. You have what is called TOP. TOPP
Games. You have what is called TOP. TOPP stands for the Olympic Partner Program. That's how they raised the $2 billion and that comes from 14 companies originally McDonald's, CocaCola, Toyota, Panasonic. Now it's Airbnb. The reason
they have all these loopholes is because they, my opinion, they generally don't desire to catch these athletes because it's bad for business.
told me about some positive drug test coverups that he knew about that coverups that he knew about that occurred at the 1988 Olympics. And at the 1992 trials, US track and field trials in New Orleans, I was working
trials in New Orleans, I was working with a shot putter named Greg Dfales and he was taking steroids including Diana Ballal. So he got fourth. He didn't make the team and but he'd been on the previous 1988 Olympic team and I
went with him to Soul Korea. But a few days after the competition, I got a call from this Olympic official and he said, "Your boy has tested positive." A few days after that, I get a second call from this Olympic official and he says,
"Tell your boy that he's off the hook." I said, "What do you mean he's off the hook?" and he said, 'Well, the elder statesmen got together and decided that this was just not a good time for these positive drug tests to come out.
Apparently, there were five positive drug tests, including a high jumper, and and my shop putter, Greg, was one of them. And he said they've just decided it's not a good time, and they're going to sweep them under the rug. I realized
that basically from the top to the bottom, I mean the television networks, the International Olympic Committee, WA, the testing agency, the athletes,
they are all a part of this corruption. And I believe the athletes are the victims of this corruption. They're in a system and they get there and they realize that there's a rampid use of drugs and it develops a use or lose
mentality. And if you know that your competitors And if you know that your competitors doing it 80% of the time, in my opinion, that enables you to make that decision to join that culture. But the athletes
to join that culture. But the athletes basically have no choice. There was a massive uh conspiracy there where I believe from the very top
meaning Putin down and I actually talked to Gregory Ridchenkov who was the head of the Moscow lab that is featured in the Icarus film. What he was doing was the Icarus film. What he was doing was he used similar to what I did in in uh
with with liquid under the tongue. He took a thousand athletes and he collected urine samples. Then he gave them all these designer type, you know, it had alcohol in it to help the absorption to all these athletes. They
absorption to all these athletes. They won big medals in 2012 at the Olympics, 2013 at the track and field. And he paid enormous dollars to bring these events into Russia so that the samples when they came in, they were all marked. They
knew who the Russian athletes were. They cut a hole in the wall and put a piece of furniture in front of it. And next door, the FSB, the equivalent of the FBI door, the FSB, the equivalent of the FBI over there, they were removing the urine
that was in the contain that was had steroids in it from the competition. They'd figured out a way to take the lid off, clean it, and put in the clean urine. Then they pushed it back through the wall, and they ran a report on that.
the wall, and they ran a report on that. So, it was a huge conspiracy. Very smart. He had to escape. He's under the witness protection program here in the witness protection program here in the United States.
company and ZMA is the name of the product. I first created the idea for ZMA in 1996. It is a nighttime anabolic formula to
help you get a deeper sleep so that your body secretes more growth hormone. Many people fail to realize that that the product that I developed, ZMA, with over a hundred distributors around the world that I had made millions of dollars. So
that I had made millions of dollars. So in 1999 and 2000, I'd already made in 1999 and 2000, I'd already made probably $5 million by that point. So I was not doing this for the money. I was doing this really for the challenge, for
the excitement, for the fun. It was like a hobby for me. They try to put me into this classification of a strength and conditioning coach or trainer or sports nutritionist. I call myself a project team leader. Whatever that project is,
that means that I finance it. I hire the people that are involved. I pay them. They don't pay me. In general, I was never paid by athletes. For Marian Jones specifically, there was one check, and I believe it was in the amount of $7,000
and change. After the Olympic Games in 2000, when we put together what I called Project World Record, and this involved Charlie Francis, who I hired, he was the
sprint coach for Ben Johnson, who in 1988 tested positive at the Olympic Games. I hired Milo SVev who was a very popular bodybuilder probably been on over a hundred magazine covers to do the strength and conditioning. It was Tim
Montgomery the athlete and his coach at the time was Trevor Graham. So I flew everybody out from Toronto, Los Angeles, North Carolina. We met at Balco and we
North Carolina. We met at Balco and we created this plan. And in the 2001 created this plan. And in the 2001 season, he won silver indoor and silver outdoor world championship medals. During Project World Record, I did not
pay Tim Montgomery. I did not pay Trevor Graham, but I did pay Charlie Francis and I did pay Milo Sarv. And this is 20 years ago, but I believe
Charlie, I paid him something like $2,000 a day. What I was gaining from $2,000 a day. What I was gaining from that is the promotion. Back then, the athletes were wearing shirts and promoting ZMA. And of course, Tim
Montgomery wore the ZMA logo and he won the United States Championship in the the United States Championship in the 100 meters in 2001.
prison for using drugs. She became involved in a check fraud scheme and also for lying to a federal agent. She didn't go to prison actually for anything to do with doping in sport. Ultimately, what I went to prison for
Ultimately, what I went to prison for was for distributing. I had a prescription for cream, testosterone cream. So, I took that and I added some epi testosterone to it. But with each time you would do it, you'd only do like
a half a gram. So, I had enough to supply twice a week, maybe max 25, 30 supply twice a week, maybe max 25, 30 athletes. The entire amount of drugs
that they confiscated that I was charged with was $1,700 worth street value and with was $1,700 worth street value and fit in a shoe box. So it was under 250 fit in a shoe box. So it was under 250 units and the crime was 0 to6 months. I
served 4 months in a prison camp. I have a lot of regrets. The most difficult a lot of regrets. The most difficult part of all for me was the shame that I part of all for me was the shame that I brought to my family. And I was reckless
because I didn't think about my own family. I didn't think about the family of the athletes that were involved. I didn't understand be in the beginning that those on the peripheral those not directly involved
how widpread the damage that I had caused would be.
before the 2024 Olympics has got all sorts of loopholes in it and it is very easy for the athletes to use peeds. They have incompetition tests and
peeds. They have incompetition tests and out of competition tests and during the out of competition they don't even test out of competition they don't even test for about 80 stimulants and narcotics.
So you can use all these drugs in training, but they only test for them on on the at the competition. So right there is a loophole you can drive a Mac truck through the other substances. They're not using designer steroids.
They're using endogenous hormones, which is testosterone, growth hormone, insulin, EPO, and they're micro doing. And they're often do times doing this at night. So when the collectors come in the morning, their levels are back down
below the the allowable limits as they say. Many supplements that are widely say. Many supplements that are widely available. Uh ZMA, uh creatine,
um there's a lot of supplements that really help to accelerate healing and tissue repair. There are a lot of things that are legal performance-enhancing substances. the sensitivity of the equipment, they can detect at lower
levels. So, the testing is getting better. And I believe that if the athletes became of the opinion that the testing was effective, that they'd like to compete without using drugs. They really
would. They'd like to know that they're the best athlete out there and they did it with all the hard work and and it wasn't just about peeds. but they're forced to do it because this is what it takes in order to be competitive. We
know that in a 100 meter race that the use of peeds will make you 2 to 4 meters faster. You can't even get anywhere near the final of an Olympic 100 meter race without doing something. That's just the
without doing something. That's just the way it is. That's my opinion. days of Mark Maguire, Jose Conco sitting all those hitting all those home runs.
This is what the fans want. They they like the train wrecks. They want to What's the secrets? And I don't know if you've heard about this new enhanced games that they're planning. one of the co-founders of PayPal, a billionaire,
and others, supposedly in 2025, are going to allow the athletes under medical supervision to use drugs and then hold a competition. I do not think
then hold a competition. I do not think it's a good idea. You know, I think the the general thinking of athletes is if a little bit's good, a lot's going to be great, and then they have a tendency to overdo it, and the next thing you know,
they're they're doing self harm. Performance-enhancing drugs can be very dangerous. There have been tour to France riders that have died from using EPO. Stimulants can cause cardiac arrest.
Liver enzymes get elevated and you you damage your liver. I mean, there's a lot of potential side effects. Now, let me say that some substances like say that some substances like testosterone when used in moderation
are not that harmful. and pro and I myself have a prescription and use myself have a prescription and use testosterone.
be outspoken and work with people that that have the same desire as I do, which is to reduce the the abuse of of uh performance-enhancing drugs. So, it's kind of given me a purpose. It's important for me for people to
understand that ever since I walked out of that that ever since I walked out of that prison camp that I've been clean. I first became an anti-doping advocate in February of 2005.
Right now, my focus is on working with worldclass boxers. In the last decade, I have worked with 28 world champions. We have a training facility called snack which that acronym stands for scientific nutrition for advanced conditioning and
nutrition for advanced conditioning and those boxers are tested by VA voluntary anti-doping association uh which is very stringent testing. The very first athlete in the world that has done 247365
247365 testing with VA is Nonito Daire. Nonito Daire was my fighter. I believe my group of snack fighters are the cleanest fighters in the entire sport. People say, "Well, he's so smart that if he
tricked us before, he could trick us again." It's now been 12 years that I've been involved with boxing and advocating drug testing. We do live in a a society of second chances, and people can and do change.
change. [Music]
match fixing as a professional footballer. This is how crime works. the times I went to collect money or to handle some of the funds, I'd literally go into the restaurant, get a few
50 grand in that bag wrapped up in like something, you're in your own world because the last thing I'm thinking about, am I going to get caught? I felt so empty at that time. It made me so
so empty at that time. It made me so cold and it just got deeper and deeper. believe I was 19 or 20 at Lincoln City. Del Facy, who was my teammate at the
time, he'd played in a Premier League, um, we were playing a game away at Northampton. He's literally, it's very like blunt and simple. Come down to our room. Okay, let's go down. We're sat on a bed like teenagers with me and my two
two teammates. Um, this white male who is Russians walked in and he identified everybody the money. And all he said was, "Hey, you guys need to lose." When I first saw the 60,000, it was in euros. So when he actually put the money on the
bed, he actually said to one of the players, "You can go and sleep with it. morning." The following evening, I believe, we've traveled with the actual money on the coach. And every single player that was present, including
Delray, happened to be on the bench anyway. So we declined that offer. At League clubs. We went back to our rooms and we spoke about it and none of us had made that amount of money. But everything was about career. I never had
a baby. I barely had a girlfriend. So why would I compromise being involved in something where I could probably make 60 grand anyway if you work hard, but there's a there's a process here now. It's almost without
you realizing it, it's a form of grooming without realizing you're being groomed. Why would I go and tell on my captain? Especially if I haven't had between 16 and 19 any education on this and more importantly, I'm a young
professional that's only just started his career versus someone that's got second time whilst I was approached and I was more I'll say mature, it was really about choices.
So the Chinese syndicate was where the majority of fixes happened. It was 2011 2012 season. I was registered to Brmley. We was doing a jog around the pitch. One of my teammates the second time was like, "Moses, I have a meeting. There's
a Chinese syndicate that wants to speak to us about match fixing." So I asked said, "Five." Then I went to the players and I was like, "Look, this is what the
deal is. You go to the meeting, you fix a game, you get paid." So the Mayfair Hotel was significant because it was the first time we'd ever turned around and met in a location. It was in the evening before the game which was going to be
played at Eastborne. May Hotel has a really royal smell. It's very distinctive. Whilst we went into the bar, I remember my first time I had an oldfashioned with a big ice cube and an orange in there. It just felt expensive.
teammates ordering cocktails. Everybody was very much on a knife edge and you didn't know what to expect. So when we went up I think on the fourth floor and just to paint a picture when we walked into that room the guy was chain smoking
he was sitting at the edge of the bed with his feet off the ground and he was only like 5t tall. So, as he started to speak and the right-hand man at the time spoke about the actions, it was a really calm and relaxed environment. And when
they passed us over the white paper bags, we were paid in football in brown paper bags. So, I knew what two grand felt like or a few,000 and it was much more than that. So, we had a choice to make um when we left, let them know
game to go ahead so they can put on a bet. and the players met in the cars and I said I'm in. So, Eastborne versus Brammley. We were asked to concede two goals before 45 minutes in the first half then play normal. I remember the
half then play normal. I remember the first minute of that game you had me and on the bench but three players that were playing in that game. So, the first thing as I'm commanding and doing things was like let's sit in but then players
them the ball. He's going down the line, beating a person, beating another person, beating another person, one v one, hits the post. And I'm like, this is the complete opposite of what we said we're going to
do. Second attack, the other guy does it. Third attack, we should have been 3-0 up rather than nil nil. So, as I was giving out instructions, I told the team to sit back and play with a low block. So rather than attack, let's just sit in
our half and depending on the type of movement, they'll have openings. Braveheart, who wasn't in on the fix, has given away a penalty, they score 1 nil. Up until the point the panic really set in because as we was playing that
low block, it was only until Eastborne have crossed the ball and the players and the penalty was given. I didn't realize at the time someone had been sent to watch our game. Somebody saw the whole thing, which was the middleman.
After that game, the players came a few hours later and it was just kamicazi the whole night was arguing, going back and forth, why are they not being paid, etc., etc., up until the following day when we went to Cannon Town and received
the money. I had a white SL at the time, which was completely tinted. I saw like he was probably 50 kilos. like he literally looked like a teenager and he had like was it three or four sainsburries bags and I'm like surely
that can't be him. Surely that can't be him. Then as he gets closer to the car and I open my door he just says a name which was them man's name just drops the money in the footwell and as I'm sitting down on the car I had my seat low and my
hands on the wheel and as I've like jerked the car forward it's gone back and the money's just falling out. So at the time I just remember the middleman was laughing put on French music and this was probably the first time I've
the wall looking straight. We traveled from Canning Town to Raive Tunnel to Tower Bridge to over the bridge and I was like panicking the whole way. So it done the speed limit in that car. When we got back to the Mayfair Hotel, the
honest with you, I didn't have an emotion when I took that money. I didn't care. And that was the first time I'd actually spoken to the main person because he wanted to guarantee um the money was received. And as my Bluetooth
was connected and I spoke to him, he just told me bluntly that you're going to take over. After that meeting, there was there was like quite a delayed gap for the next fix. They wanted to penetrate English football at the time.
So they wanted me to help them initially in the beginning to try and find people quite senior mature because they're coming to the back end of their career. But that was a tough task because at the time I'm only 24 and that was like
another high level version of what they wanted to do. happened after that, they call it data and analytics now. So they knew much
ourselves from a football point. How many times you use your left and right foot? Where are you vulnerable? How many crosses does the team have? How do you that they spoke about the detail was so important because if you were highly
last line of defense, so you see everything. If you're a midfielder, it's a different perspective because they may turn around and be like, well, we want you to just hold this line and defend deep because it invites pressure. When
fixing, even though they're very much similar things, you need to look at the way the betting markets are operating. So, for example, spot fixing can look like all I want you to do is get a yellow card in the first 10 minutes,
then you can play normal. It's much easier to spot fix than it is to match fix. So, we actually spot fixed a lot more than we match fixed. And if you include a yellow and red card, that can be anything from 5 to 10 grand. So, you
don't actually have to win or lose a game. Or if he turns around and they game. Or if he turns around and they say, "Well, we need you guys to concede may be tight, but then what I realized,
oh well, he's actually got the other team as well because what you'll find in person or you're the central figure in your mind, but then you don't realize that you're almost collateral damage because you're almost Nemo in this big
teams and we were meeting up and I realized that if you almost control one person that can move specific markets and indicators and if you look at where
in America point shaving is that line of movement now is detected by data but actually go and see these games live. So how can you tell me if a game's fixed or how can you tell me if a game's fixed or not?
stringent hierarchy if I say that. So the main player, the main man, I probably saw him two to three occasions. He's right-hand man was actually a whole operation. He was able logistically to move amounts of money
through criers, traffickers, how the players are getting paid, what markets the bets are being put on, and create an infrastructure with me where I can locate players on inside information and squads on what's going to happen. We
trained on Tuesdays, Thursdays played on Saturdays, but from Monday to Sunday, I was always in direct dialogue with their right-hand man at the time and the games every game was fixed. I just got to understand their business and their
reasons as to why they have such a successful globalized version of what they do. So for example, the times I went to collect money or to handle some restaurant, say my name, say an order, go into the
back, come back, get a few takeaway bags, and that could have been 50 grand in that bag wrapped up in like boxes. On an average day, I'd wake up, a lot of the conversations we'll have will be on Skype or Telegram. Every Monday would be
weekend. I may wake up to an emoji of angry face and that means something's gone wrong. Or it's Sunday morning, I wake up to a thumbs up. That means business has done well. So the levels of communication weren't sentences and
paragraphs and hey bro, what you doing? It was very much emoji based. When I saw angry face, that meant another team had done something wrong and the boss wanted to speak to me to find out inside information on what's happening. We've
information on what's happening. We've lost 250 grand, for example. I'm like, to do with me, what do you want me to do? Just find X, Y, and Z. Okay, go to the restaurant, pick up a grand, let me know in 2 days what you find. I don't
grand. Find some more. Come on. Emoji, emoji, emoji. I'm angry. Just do your job. Don't ask too much questions because that's a form of paranoia. I didn't see a threat to life. I wasn't given a bullet or a gun and said, "Hey,
Because I never ran away the money. And more importantly, if you start asking questions, you now put your name and place into conversations that don't need to be had because what you're asking is is structure.
or official even being offered a bribe or a bung. It was purely the players simply because of risk. One conversation with a referee, a coach or anyone everything down. >> Corruption does exist within the world
>> Yeah. No, it definitely does. But I think what we need to remember is scope think what we need to remember is scope and location. Even at the lower tiers, there's still a good governance for officials which allows fans and people
watching those games to know that the referees and coaches have not been compromised. What you'll find in match fixing, it usually comes from my experience with someone that's trusted. The gambling culture in sport is rife.
So if I'm 30 years old, for example, and I see that young player coming into the back of the coach, I'm going be like, "Hey, come and play a game." Then that young player seeing us bet £1,000 and he may get approached if he gets released.
well, you don't have to do anything. Just go and get me a player's name. That's £500." Or if the syndicate needs other players to book hotels or for them to go undetected, I can give you a grand
for booking the Hilton Hotel. Football's a relationship based business. So your for example, turned around and said to me at the time, Moses is match fixing, but I'm your captain. Then the psychological effects almost in a very
psychological effects almost in a very highly toxic egotistical way is you're almost killing people softly without realizing that a lot of this money and system again comes back to one thing. Who's influential and what type of
relationships you have. At that time at Brmley, I was very close with a manager. The manager in and around New Year's told me I wasn't getting paid because I was having my daughter. So then he gave me the fire to justify everything I've
right decision. Then when you're haven't been paid, the conversation's easier. Hey, look what the gaffer sent to me. If he thinks that about me, and more importantly, I haven't got a
contract that's really worth anything apart from the papers been printed on. appointment because we've got a game on a Saturday? And I can almost use this as an advertising tool to every single player that I speak to. Look how
managers are treating us because it's all a form of manipulation. And more importantly, that manipulation can pinpoint anybody. Could you imagine if players were injured? You know, could you imagine if you owed somebody money?
"Hey, speak to me. What's your problems?" Oh, Moses, you know what? I propose. Take five grand. Pay me back whenever you want because all you need to do is ask one person a favor. You know what? On 20 minutes, I just need
you to concede. Why, Moses? I don't need to tell you why. Just do it. If you go and do that, I'll give you 10 grand. Why would he say no? And we have that bonafide relationship where we've actually gone into a legitimate games in
Truro, fought relegation battles, and everybody's running around each other and all happy. We're drinking beers. The last thing you're going to think about me and other people is what you're actually involved in. Football's a very
tight niche industry from the top all the way down to the bottom. The two two occasions things went wrong. Remember, I learned how to do this myself. Player one, he done such a good job the boss pushed me to the side and
only wanted to deal with him. This player went and got the goalkeeper. Some think that's the holy grail if you have the goalkeeper. Off the back of that, we involvement, the whole fix was played out like a
theater. Everything you could imagine went wrong. The fans heard it, the players heard it. The second player was Michael Bang, who actually did not fix any football match. He just happened to know me. I gave him money. I introduced
him to Dora. within a month or so, imagine somebody that's never been arrested goes from being arrested to now being put in jail. So those two scenarios are a variation of I was able to use my influence in the team to allow
the work I was doing to speak volumes to other people without realizing it's me. I really started off as a group. The first interactions were always with me and I'll say between three and five players. After the group, when we
actually fixed the game, I then went into uh I'll say probably more a senior role because of what I'd done. The almost final role was me now being my almost final role was me now being my own betting app company, book maker.
Premier League's better governed. the payments are astronomical. Like any other sporting league or federation, as you go down, um, you're less paid. Um, I was playing, I believe, at step five or six at the time, so it was a level below
the conference. I was probably on 800 to,000 in cash in the Premier League. It's watched by millions. The level that I'm playing at, it's watched by a couple of hundred people, if that. So, first of all, you start off by taking pocket
money. And whilst you're sitting there with them, you're almost giving them the inside scoop of, okay, well, this is how this manager plays. At this point, if this team has a successful FA Cup run, you'll know in non league, they usually
have a worse season. So, behind the scenes, managers and clubs that have good FA Cup runs, lower level, get paid, and they don't really worry about the season because they've secured funding for the following couple of seasons. So
when you're speaking and sitting down and going back and forth with these, you almost formulate a plan and part of that plan you need players. If you have five players, it's great. If you have a few players, it's even better because do you
you balance it out three and three or oneonone or two and two? If you have one team B, that's even better than having five players because these two players, all they need to do is create spot fixing elements where you concede in the
first half, you concede in the second half. If you were to go into a normal win, what's the likelihood of that actually happening? But imagine going are actually going to win and there's a 99.9% return on that. So then when the
money comes, if that's a few million, how do you now launder and wash that >> Was there a point where any of your friends and family were just like kind now? Like what's going on? Did you have to lie to them?
because they only found out until I done the podcast. So I was on a BBC podcast called Confessions of a Match Fixer that came out in August of 2024. We done a listening for the podcast. That was the first time my family found out. The only
person that half knew was my brother, but not to the extent. So again, that to do because I've had to go back and revisit people I ain't seen for 15 years. So their version of Moses was Moses that played football. So 15 plus
years later hearing that the room was silent. My mom didn't know. My sister didn't know. >> Didn't know the extent. They didn't know >> Didn't know the extent. They didn't know anything.
So for example, I used to play center back. If I play left or right side back. If I play left or right side center back, I can be hugely influential >> If I was watching a match, for example, how would I be able to spot that it was
>> I I don't think you would. The only way you could potentially spot it, I'll give an example. We could watch a an international game or a Premier League match. The defender slips and a goal goes in. Ah, it's match fixing. Because
when someone does something that isn't really of the normal, you're going to be it's just human nature. Even before I don't that looks odd. Why would he go and do that? But then again, when you're
on the pitch, mistakes happen. And this is why it's it's so sophisticated because you can never really tell. What data can do is detect and with different technologies help you understand it. I'll give you an example. If you look at
a football pitch, depending on the pattern of play, the style of play, the positioning, you'll be able to tell if you're an experienced defender, why are you marking the wrong channel or the wrong side in this specific moment? Or
if you're an experienced striker, how have you angled your body at this moment yard off the post? or if you're a midfielder, why you're not as mobile as what you are. Because if you look at that and you compare it to the market
and bets that are placed on that game, any line or movement on a legal market will kind of help you understand, oh, was that game fixed? But how many fans do that? If that makes sense. When you watch a game, you don't watch a game to
because you love the sport and more importantly, it's fair and it's an equal playing field. And that's why betting markets exist.
that system I saw the amounts being placed on that market and there was um a delay. So for example if they had a market open in Asia they could put on a delay in live time because at that time obviously data and analytics weren't
what it was. All of our matches were being transmitted and recorded. One of the mules sat in a crowd. every fix that was agreed, we'll put our hands up or the game with a with a headset and he's
telling the market or he's telling the principal exactly what's happening. So being placed in where they are, more people putting on markets because that can be the only game that's fixed on that market at that time. So imagine
and b what the scores are going to be. So that little line movement from my understanding at that time was what made them considerable amounts of money. So you want to call it that I had two options. Do I go and expand this into
Europe and the UK? Do I become my own book maker? I had the cash and the liquidity. I can now understand enough about how to get illegal bets on to make margins. But then off the back of doing that, I also had a daughter on the way.
And the last almost fix that we done whilst I retired from football, I was because I knew where the money was. And more importantly, I had access to that And I didn't realize I was probably depressed at the time without realizing
what that looks like. I left Brmley. I was at White Hawk for a few weeks and Sutton for probably a couple of probably like a month or two. And funny enough, when I went to Sutton, I felt that feeling and buzz again. But then I was
like, I don't think I can play here without match fixing. I don't have that same hunger or desire. Let me leave. I've left contemplating retirement. Michael's rang me because he was at White Hawk going back and forward with
the manager and he was like, "Yeah, we want to offer you £350." But what he millionaire by then, so it wasn't about the money. So, as I'm being pulled back, something's telling me expand this business. But, um, let's not make any
excuses here. It's it's it's very simple. It's greed. You know, the more of something you get, you want more. Because ultimately, you have to remember knows. I'm not speaking to friends. I'm
not speaking to family. I'm not speaking to my girlfriend. Then I got wrote back in again. So, I'm almost having a battle with myself saying, I want to get out. when I'm sitting at home then I still have access to this international
done what you've done in the UK let's go and build this in Europe and international and that's when I met the third syndicate so we had the Russians in the beginning the Chinese and the last dance if you want to call it was
the Singaporeans it actually started or stemmed from Australia so there was a bunch of players that played at the same level that we played they went over to Australia and they were match fixing so I believe they had to spend a
significant amount of time over there. But I remember as I knew one of those players, I remember like oh ringing him like what was happening and he vaguely like what was happening and he vaguely told me. Then lo and behold that stemmed
from a guy called Terry Ste doing his own investigation to find out the root potentially that were involved in match fixing. So Wilson Perl Mrage has been internationally. So through Wilson he
met Chan Sankaran and Krishna Ganesh. They were paid by the Telegraph at the time to come to the UK. Obviously they didn't know there was an investigation but they were given 60,000 by the telegraph to find players. They happened
to have a channel to Delray Facy. Del Facy happened to have a channel to me and I had a channel to Michael Bang. Michael Bang at that time we had played at Crystal Palace's Academy. He was 2 years younger than me. So he was the one
person that I spent the most time with because he knew matrixing was happening but he didn't know it was me. So by the time he found out I didn't want him to get involved and I gave him like a loan for his car without me realizing I'm
actually inducing him. Following on from that he found out I was fixing and I was like okay I'm not going to do it with you. I'm going to show you how to do it. I'm going to introduce you to Dell. Michael was actively playing. He had
he could potentially manipulate and pinpoint what I done at at Eastborne. "Here's A, here's B, this is the pot, that's how much I'm taking, and not actually have an involvement up until Michael lied to me. Why would you go to
realizing and not tell me?" So when I rang him, I heard the trembling in his voice from that lie. Michael, where are you? Why are you asking? I don't ever speak to you like that. Why? What's up? Then I knew because of
he was lying. And that game was like 60 grand. If it if it had happened, he share. But I wanted to teach him a lesson. But then my ego got in the way. I've gone to King's Meadow and I've got tickets and I've met the new syndicate.
Michael a lesson. And as I'm trying to teach him a lesson, that's how I got teach him a lesson, that's how I got arrested.
Shankaran and Sham for the first time. They'd come from Manchester my agreed five grand if the game was successful and I got 20. So at half time I was like where's the money cuz you haven't given it to me but let's go to a
local restaurant. Went to a local Asian restaurant, sat down, we're talking, he toilets, counted it. It was three grand. And I'm like three and five. What's the arguing about? Then I said to I was actually saying to myself, why am I even
here? So we start arguing and he's arguing and obviously we're the only people in the restaurant. Then a blonde woman walks in. I'm like that's odd. So as we're arguing, we're arguing. She sits right next to us on the table and
Kingston. She's got heels on, blonde hair, glasses on. And I'm like, she should be in Mayfair. This is this is odd. So as I'm arguing with Chan, my friend Benji at the time is with Krishna. Then a male walks in and I'm
like he's in a suit. I was like what's going on? So then he walks around in the same kind of like way she did and he sits down and like their body language is a turn like next to us and my heart's just pumping and my instincts kicked in
and I was like I got to go. I called Ben. Uh Ben was taking forever even though it may have been a minute felt like a long time. Then as Chan's off this that the third. Give me my money back. Ben comes. Krishna comes. We
Ben, let's just get to the car. Then as we got to the alleyway, I just heard we got to the alleyway, I just heard footsteps. Then I remember um they they they were. Then I just remember freezing, not being able to move. They
weren't normal handcuffs. They put like these and like strings. I was like, when I watched the films, this is what murderers get put in or like this must be serious. Then like we're the police. Then it wasn't until they said, "You've
been arrested for conspiracy to defraud the betting trade." The first thing I cooking a chicken curry, and I was like, "I'll be back in an hour." First thing on my mind, oh, what's what's Crystal going to say? Then after that, I saw the
woman and I saw the man with normal police handcuffs. I was like, "Oh, damn." Then when we came out, all of the cars opposite the restaurant and outside the ground all police cars with lights. Then
where Ben got arrested and Krishna got arrested. So the observation or the OBO from Manchester didn't know who he was meeting, he's ran into us and they've now got their case. The National Crime Agency in the UK were the law
enforcement agency that led our investigation. The NCA had been given a case file by the Daily Telegraph at the time, many months after the season had time, many months after the season had ended because after the 201213 season,
the NCA had caught the third Syndicate because the game that I invited them to, Ace of Woman versus Dagam Red Bridge was the game I said that was fixed. So whilst they had an observation, they bunged the rooms, they had live
recordings, they heard us speak about fixing, etc., But they never knew about um in the previous season. The people at the top of the pyramid were never brought to trial. But Chan Sankaran and Gananishes I believe they got 5 years.
Delroy served 2 and 1/2 years in prison. He was convicted with me on the second trial. And Michael Bang served 16 months a year before I went prison. We both got 16 months. I done 4 months in prison. 4 months on HDC tag. Then the rest of my
sentence was outside on license. You know what? This might sound controversial. Yeah. But I think getting a prison sentence is just the word. Being rehabilitated is what we're looking for here. People make mistakes.
importantly, I believe everybody deserves a second chance. And I feel lives with me is knowing even though I've transitioned and I've come out the I've transitioned and I've come out the other end, Michael hasn't.
Dora hasn't. They got banned. I was banned for 15 years. I'm the only person that went to the FA and actually admitted like this is what I've done. admitted like this is what I've done. How can I help?
fixed? >> I'll say 2020 I'm playing local football and a player who obviously knew about what was happening. I've seen him and I've said hello and the response I got was quite cold. Then I remember him
saying, "Do you know how much you affected me?" Because the league and people found out that match fixing in you was involved. That affected me and the team. Nobody wanted to sign me. There was a question mark on
all of us. He didn't want to make any money. He just wanted to play football. I'm not in football no more. So when I meet people, I come across them. Their version of Moses Sway was the version of everything before 2015.
because there's no interaction. And for whatever reason, I was saved by actually going to prison. That sounds quite scary. Prison actually saved my life. If I did not go to prison and I wasn't arrested that day, I would have either
been dead on a first class fight ticket to Singapore or one of the biggest match fixes that have ever existed because that that's what my mentality was and that's where my mind was going. It's almost like Jacqueline Hyde for those
who haven't read it. I've gone from being the most enthusiastic and passion being the most enthusiastic and passion and I'll die for this game. I hate this. football. And there was no middle ground here. It's either it was really good or
it was really bad. And I think for me, part of the worst place any human being can do is when you're stripped from your almost your human rights and who who you are. You're given a number. Rock bottom is sitting down in that prison cell
looking outside the window realizing for the foreseeable future. This is my life now. In prison, I didn't speak to nobody. I didn't want to have any outside interest with the world apart from my daughter. And I feel within that
that almost allowed me to hate the game even more because the accountability wasn't really taken until I actually sat down and understood who I was. I left prison in 2015. Week after I left prison, I went and done an interview at
the FA for my tribunal. Following on that, they put together quite quickly an integrity education format for Premier League players. Then that was my first real role around working for the first time. I've been very fortunate to go and
speak at the European Council with 10 plus countries ratifying a convention treaty for anti-corruption. I've spoken to attorney generals, prime ministers, world, the Olympic Committee, and I would have never been able to have these
conversations had it not been for my story. The book is called Fixed, My Secret Life of a Match Fixer. The book is what over 280 pages of the rawest version of a corruption story in sport you're ever going to hear.
sporting industry have improved in adding integrity officer. Those integrity officers are doing multiple courses around how to help that individual. I think where things fall short is
having sufficient enough evidence from just being approached in order to make sure that the right framework's done. Just having the bravery to turn around and do the right thing is the first step. And again, that can include
telling anybody that you give that information to that's trusted. So between 2015 and 2019, I've been into every single Premier League club in a season. I've been approached by several players in four years. people coming up
right? Yeah, I saw your story. By the way, such and such happened at this time, but I reported it and done the right thing." You can slowly bet within reason because it's legal. Because what we don't realize, athletes have a lot of
you go home, what are you doing with your time? So, the algorithm on your phone is getting betting, betting, betting, gambling, gambling, gambling. players, the first question they ask me is, "Why are we sponsored by a betting
Oh, yeah. Because that's the rules. And I actually can't explain it because I don't work for BEX or whatever company it is. And what you find is this generation of player goes to become a full international and a player and
earns loads of money. I'm pretty sure if you were to do a survey of 10 players, have either used some form of app or betting. For example, if you compare it again to 2025, I don't need to go into the bookies. I
can download an app, register a name, get my family member to place bets on To my knowledge, there isn't a significant law that actually governs what match fixing is. People who are tried and convicted are usually
convicted around bribery and fraud charges. When you go outside of the UK, mainly in Europe, part of the struggles that they have is the time period spent from an investigation to actually getting a criminal conviction. And
within that time, a player or athlete can still play and operate. So, there's there's not enough people coming forward approaches. I don't think it's a situation about what league as we're
seeing. This happens in the Premier League, the most watched league in the world, in the whole world with billions of people. At the lower league, it's going to happen. Maybe there's less scrutiny because nobody watches it, but
corruption doesn't discriminate against you because you're higher or you're betting market and there's opportunity for people to make money. Crime's always [Music] [Applause]
My name is Bonita Merciardis. I was a senior executive with Football Federation Australia. I became a whistleblower when I witnessed how corruption and favors influenced the decision for the 2018 and 2022 World Cup
decision for the 2018 and 2022 World Cup tournaments. This is how crime works. revolves is around money. And spending
whether it be $50 million or $80 million on a bid for a World Cup is just ridiculous. I mean, you have to ask yourself, what is that money spent on? You could have the best bid in the world, but the decision was never ever
going to be based on merit. It was based on the deals, the double deals, and the counter deals that were made behind closed doors.
the World Cup bid uh in February 2008. Australia has one of the most competitive sporting environments in the world. The World Cup bid was seen as a way to turbocharge the game here. There was a time when we were discussing the
budget request of 80 to $85 million internally. I raised the question, why do we need so much money? Merely to bid for a World Cup tournament. It wasn't the World Cup itself. It was just a bid. I sat in that meeting with former
colleagues of mine from government trying to justify this and I couldn't. It was said to me at the time from a Treasury official, "What what you're doing here is money laundering. you know, you're passing money from one one
entity to another in the FIFA World Cup bidding process. Really, all that's required is a bid book, an inspection, and going to a few meetings. You don't need $80 million or $50 million for that. For instance, the US bid
reportedly only had $10 million. There would be events held and we would invite all the executive committee members on behalf of Australia. This is the Australian bid. this is what we have to offer and answering questions. That was
the public part of what we did. It was all the other stuff that went around behind closed doors that was the the issues around FIFA. At the end of the day, the government uh cut back the request from 80 to 85 million to
approximately $48 million. I had been uncomfortable from day one with the fact that our consultants were secret, our budgeting was secret, all sorts of things were secret, and that we weren't to talk about.
When we were bidding back in 2008 to 2010, uh there was no limit on how much money an individual bidding nation could spend on their bid and there was no guidelines really or no rules about what you could spend it on. There were
other bidders. the guideline which said that we shouldn't offer executive committee members any favors but they were very loosely adhered to in a sense
FIFA set everybody up to collude because they had two World Cups going at the they had two World Cups going at the same time 2018 and 2022 almost any strategist in the world would think if we've got two tournaments up for grabs
and we've got these two handfuls of bidders going for either what you want to do is have a partner ner going into that voting room from an opposite bidding team so you can exchange votes. So to have that guideline is just utter
nonsense. And to suggest that it didn't go on in every single bid is also extraordinarily naive. It did. At the time there were 24 members of the executive committee. And so to win you needed 13 votes. It was simple as that.
One of the ways that we thought we could win is to be everyone's second favorite win is to be everyone's second favorite bidder and one by one everyone else would fall away and we'd come through and win. Bearing in mind that within
Asia there had been at the time that the bidding started there were five bidders. There was Australia, there was Indonesia, there was Qatar, Japan and Korea. We knew who was on the executive committee but we needed to find out what
sort of people they were. um to the extent that you could from a a a desktop research. Who they were married to, how many children they had, what languages they spoke, what their ethnicity is, what their religion is, whether they
drank wine, what sort of wine, what were their business interests, where did their business interests lead us. We did put it all together as part of a dossier countries also tried to do the same thing. That was just going on all the
thing. That was just going on all the time. the football world but particularly while bidding is on because they give
plausible deniability to bidders. So if someone asks a question and says did you have a conversation with a particular executive committee member you can get up and say hand on heart no I didn't have that conversation because I had
others do it for them. The first time I was concerned about our World Cup bid and about how the decision was going to be made was when I learned that we had employed a particular international consultant to help us with our bid. and
a colleague went to his bookshelf and pulled out Andrew Jennings book foul, a book that was well known throughout the world as having exposed what FIFA was like and opened it to a chapter on this particular person. And he said, "You
better read this cuz you're going to have to get used to him." Almost every bidding nation had consultants. When the then chairman of Football Federation Australia, Frank Loey, decided that we would bid, he went to Seth Blatter, who
was the president of FIFA at the time, he went to the Germans and said, "Well, how did you win?" And they said, "Well, we had these consultants and you can't win without these consultants." So, they were seen as being the three key people
who could help deliver a World Cup. Two of those people we were never to mention. We were never to tell anybody that we had engaged Fedor Radmon or Peter Hagatai. The key members of the the bid team
included Frank Lowey who is also a billionaire property developer in Australia. Our three international consultants and the chief executive officer Ben Buckley within the staff the three key
people were Ben Buckley, myself who was head of corporate and public affairs and a colleague Stuart who was head of operations. One of the things that was clear that going into bidding, Frank Lowey certainly knew what FIFA was like
himself. He knew that the people within FIFA were very impressed by wealth and FIFA were very impressed by wealth and he was prepared to show his wealth in order to impress people. There was a number of billionaires that sort of hung
around or were part of the decision-making process. Um so for instance, the Korean football association president was a billionaire. He also had been a candidate for the Korean presidency of the country, not
just of the football association. There was quite a lot of um people with means, people who could impress other members of the executive committee or other
football association members even if they didn't have a vote. committee members that uh was always going to happen. One of the most
striking examples from an Australian perspective was when in September 2010 when we learned that Australia had given half a million dollars US to upgrade a stadium in Trinidad and Tobago. With respect to the Caribbean, they're not
high priority in terms of Australian foreign aid. And you'd have to ask yourself, why did we give us half a million dollars to upgrade a stadium in quite simple. One of the most important players in FIFA at that time came from
Trinidad and Tobago. And that's Jack Warner. Jack Warner was the president of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association and the president of Congerf, which is the North American,
Caribbean, and Central American Confederation. He had been running that for more than 20 years and he was an extraordinarily powerful person in world football. From very early on when we met with Peter Hagatai, it was about what
Jack said, what Jack wanted. Jack would like this, Jack would like that. And Australian and thought it was Christmas every time because whatever Jack Warner asked for, Jack Warner got. Many years
afterwards, it was found out that the money bounced around the world from Sydney to London to New York to Port of Spain in Trinidad and Tobago and it never ended up with the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association. It ended up
in Jack Warner's personal bank account. At the time that we're talking about, I think the the more common um ways in which corruption happened was in relation to individual executive committee members asking for things. Uh
sometimes that would be financial, sometimes it wouldn't be, it would be something else entirely. For instance, matches organized, international matches between countries. When two countries play an international match, there are
TV rights given. there are the expenses met for the team and that was an easy way for money to exchange hands in football's terms legitimately. There's a lot of money to be made from getting an allocation of tickets as people who are
on the executive committee at the time would get and then on selling them and not on selling them at face value but at at extraordinary rates. The sons of Jack Warner, for example, have been reportedly arrested in the United States
and remain in the United States virtually under house arrest for misdemeanors in relation to those issues. Another one, of course, is the giving of gifts. The gifts would get more expensive and more expensive as
time went by and you almost trying to outdo each other with how valuable the anywhere without them because you wouldn't be welcome without them. At the time of the FIFA Congress, uh, Frank Loey hosted a dinner at his personal
residence for the executive committee members and their partners. And at the members and their partners. And at the dinner table were goldplated plates, dinner plates with the names of the guests engraved into the plates. And
also at the dinner table were gifts for each of the executive committee members and their partners. So men got pearl cuff links from one of Australia's preeminent pearl jewelers and for the women there was pearl necklaces. At the
time Jack Warner's wife wasn't there and she missed out on her pearl necklace. One of the first things we were asked was to get Morin Warner a pearl necklace
to replace it. Even on sale, this necklace was a was 1,200 Australian necklace was a was 1,200 Australian 1,400 Australian dollars on sale.
its vote was absolutely vital because up until 1 January 2006, Australia had been part of Oceanania. We needed to be able to say we had Oceanania's vote. So Rainald Tamari who was then the president of the Oceanania Football
Confederation, he visited Australia early on and we also visited Oceanania to make sure that we were aware of what it was that Oceanania wanted to give us
our vote. Well, I always remember Rainol Tamari and his chief executive at the time of Oceanania Football Confederation, Tai Nicholas, came to Australia and they had a list of demands of things that they wanted and there was
a list of about six or seven items. Key one of which which struck out to me immediately was they wanted $4 million and one I thought that was an impossible task and two I felt extraordinarily uncomfortable. But what we would give
uncomfortable. But what we would give money for was what they called uh sports development means. It was decided that the $4 million would be split up between the countries of Oceanania other than New Zealand. And that was how we would
give our $4 million and those sports development projects um would be for could be for netball. It could be for rugby league. It could be for whatever was the biggest sport in that particular country. It has to be said that to to
this date, you know, 15 years later, that project now continues. So there wasn't inherently anything wrong with the activity. You can't, as an Australian living next door to the Pacific, say that we shouldn't be giving
foreign aid to Pacific nations. There was nothing wrong with that. However, this was the first time it was done, and it was only done because we needed it was only done because we needed Oceanania's vote.
The other bidder that came out of the blue in February 2009 unexpectedly in blue in February 2009 unexpectedly in 2009 was Qatar and I always remember we were sitting in a meeting room in our offices in Sydney and Peter Hagatai was
there you know the secret Peter Hagatar and he said oh um Qatar won't win it's too hot and Muhammad doesn't even want it and that was true at the time then president of the Asian Football Confederation said quite clearly that he
supported Australia's bid. There was a couple of big disadvantages for Qatar is mostly no one took them seriously. They were seen as this tiny little dot of a nation in the middle of the Middle East that had temperatures 40° plus in June
or July. What no one had notices in the bidding agreements that everybody signed was that FIFA had the capacity to change the dates of the World Cup. didn't have the dates of the World Cup. didn't have to be held in June, July. Qatar would be
World Cup, but it would be perfectly pleasant in November, December. So, they gave themselves the wiggle room legally to change those dates. The other disadvantage they had, bearing in mind this is 2008, 2009. At the time, Qatar
didn't have enough hotel rooms. You needed something like 32 hotels to accommodate the World Cup and they didn't have that many at the time. And I always remember Hassan Alawadi who was the leader of the Qatar bid and he said
the leader of the Qatar bid and he said can we being Qatar use hotels in Dubai which is only an hour away to be fair. So the only answer that um FIFA could give to that was yes it was perfectly okay to do so. So one by one the things
that had been against Qatar were nullified and they had one overwhelming issue in their favor and that is or one person Muhammad bin Haman. A pivotal
point in the whole World Cup bidding was when the Amir of the time is thought to have called bin Ham into his palace or wherever and said I want you to support the Qatar world bid. You got to stop this. It's not about you and the FIFA
presidential election. It's about Qatar winning the World Cup. And at that time, Bin Ham with all his heart and soul swung his effort into Qatar winning the World Cup bid. And subsequently, they did. This first came to light in June
2010 at the time of the FIFA Congress in Johannesburg and the Asian Football Confederation um made a decision without consulting with Australia first that it was going to support a European country for 2018.
But all of a sudden now here's Muhammad bin man saying no we're going to support a European country for 2018 and 2022 will be between Asia and the US. It
caught the Australian bid team by a huge surprise. They tried to make out, oh didn't matter. We were only going to go for 2022. Yet, they had to do a 180°
turn on their public positioning because up until then, the public positioning up until then, the public positioning had been around both tournaments.
I always remember being in Zurich in July 2009 and we were walking across the foyer of the FIFA headquarters. There'd been couple of days of meetings. our prime minister had been to meet set blatter and Jerome Valka who was then
the general secretary or CEO of FIFA turned to us and said you know you won't win and we had been walking almost like Westwing TV you know and we'd been walking we stopped and said what do you
mean you won't win because you can't possibly get the revenue from TV that the Americans will now this was July 2009 we were about 6 7 months into the
bidding process and had another 18 months to go. My view at the time was we should withdraw. The time frame was wrong. Uh the time zone was wrong for the rest of the world and we just didn't have the powerful networks that the
United States and elsewhere in the world has. And I thought at the time, okay, we withdraw, we withdraw with honor and we say to the government, here's the money say to the government, here's the money back that we haven't spent. But instead,
what was decided is that we would get PWC independent report, which said the future of football is in Asia, which of course we'd all heard before. All the future TV revenues were going to come
from Asia. 75% of the world's population was in Asia, and we were in the Asian time zone. Therefore, we were going to have the biggest TV revenues. So we tried to argue the case against American TV networks. Fast forward to around
TV networks. Fast forward to around about October 2010 and what do you know? What was then Alazer signed an agreement with FIFA for hund00 million US for what is referred to in the agreement as a production
contribution. if Qatar won the World Cup bid. This was a first that there would be a production contribution if Qatar was successful. In addition to that, it was widely talked about that Emirates Airlines was getting
a little bit weary of its sponsorship of FIFA. Didn't like a lot of the scandal FIFA. Didn't like a lot of the scandal around FIFA was not going to renew its contract with FIFA. And lo and behold when that contract came up for renewal
and typically an existing sponsor has first right of refusal Emirates said no I we don't want to be involved and who should be ready to come in without
hardly any need for negotiation but Qatar Airways. So you know this is where countries such as Russia and Qatar where there's little separation between the nation state and the private business interests have a far easier way of
winning tournaments like this compared with say an Australia or an England or a Holland and a Belgium. There were a few occasions in which it was discussed that we would try to convince Qatar the country uh at a at a
governmenttogovernment level not to take part in the bidding or to withdraw. What did the Australian government have that they could potentially offer Qatar landing rights for Qatar Airways? Qatar
they were looking to expand into different markets and at the time it was very difficult to get landing rights in Australia. So that was seen as something they could offer. Another one was a few
months beyond that when we asked our consultant to visit the Amir of Qatar consultant to visit the Amir of Qatar and convince him to withdraw in return for which Australia would support Doha's bid for the Olympic
Games. There was talk at the time that Doha wanted to host the Olympic games. And bear in mind in the Olympic movement, Australia is one of the most powerful countries. The vice president of the Olympic movement to this day is
John Coats who is an Australian. He is very close to Frank Loey. So we felt confident that we could make that offer and help make it happen.
was an announcement about who had who was bidding for 2018 and 2022. There was an assumption around a lot of the football world at the time that England was a shoe in to host the 2018 World Cup. I thought dismissing Russia was
Cup. I thought dismissing Russia was probably a little bit premature for a couple of reasons. One, Russia was run at the time it was President Medvidev and Prime Minister Putin. It was one of their swaps of positions, but we all
knew who was running the country. In July 2009, Set Blatter got up and talked July 2009, Set Blatter got up and talked about how he wanted the World Cup to be in places that had demonstrably been able to host mega sporting events, which
we saw as something in our favor cuz we do that, but also which would make an impact on the world. And it was clear to me then that Russia was probably going to be his favorite and who he wanted to see win the 2018 World Cup. Bearing in
mind this was at a time before we knew about the state sanctioned doping within Russia in relation to Sohi the discussion became around well who can we strike a partnership with and everybody assumed that Australia would do that
with England but our consultants very strongly said forget England we'll go to Russia that's who we do the deal with I do remember very clearly a conversation that I had with Frank Lobbyian I was feeling very uncomfortable and tapping
my pen and thinking I really don't want to be here. And he he and I got on very well at that time. And he he said to me, "What's wrong? What what what are you upset about?" And I said, "I'm thinking of something that somebody in my past
would say to me as I was growing up." And I mimicked the accent of the person who said it to me and I said, "Never Russian." and he said, "That person is probably right, but this is what I've got to do
now and I will do whatever it takes to win." And you know, you fast forward win." And you know, you fast forward then many months later to when the vote happened and we we didn't win and Russia did win and there's two of our
consultants sitting back having a cigar and a and a glass of scotch with the Russian or probably vodka actually but um a glass with the Russians are um a glass with the Russians are celebrating the Russian win
around about October, November 2010, Rail Tamari ended up being suspended from the executive committee because he had asked for one too many favors. Uh some English journalists masquerading as consultants for the American bid visited
him in New Zealand and said, "What can we do to get your vote for the American bid?" And he said, "You can give us $4 million." So even though he'd already got $4 million from us, he wanted another $4 million. Turns out they were
fake consultants. They were journalists. Tamari had two choices. He either could fight the fact that this all happened and he was suspended or he could accept
it. If he had accepted it, then there would have been another voter come in would have been another voter come in and vote for him for Oceanania. But he decided to fight it. Meanwhile, Muhammad bin Haman privately was funding Tamari's
court case because by then bin Haman was totally committed to Qatar winning that World Cup bid. Therefore, Oceanania didn't have a vote. So, there was Australia stuck without one of its votes that it was counting on as it went into
that it was counting on as it went into the room for the final vote. Zurich of course. So in Australia it was very early hours of the morning. Uh and
I was watching it. I didn't expect that we would win. It was no surprise in one sense that we didn't win. But of course it was disappointing. I felt very sorry for my colleagues. Most of my colleagues who worked on the bid wouldn't know any
who worked on the bid wouldn't know any of this stuff. They were junior people, junior officers. They would have just worked really hard to do the best job they could do to put the best foot forward. Well, Australia tried very hard
forward. Well, Australia tried very hard to get everybody's vote, but in the end, uh, they got one and that wasn't Rainol Tamari because he wasn't in the room to vote. So, it's was reported afterwards that at least two people told Frank
Lowey that they had voted for Australia. But of course that wasn't possible. There was only one vote. My personal view is that vote was set blatter cuz he knew what was happening and he felt sorry for us. And so he had a bit of a
soft spot for Australia and didn't want to see us completely disgraced.
my entire life. My parents were displaced persons in Australia after the Second World War and one of the ways that displaced persons and later on migrants in Australia sort of settled in a new country was to set up a soccer
club or football club. I joined Football Federation Australia in 2007 for-p profofit sector and the government sector and I was appointed to the role
of head of corporate and public affairs. About five or six years before that I had also worked as a team manager for the soccer Australian national men's football team. So, I had grown up with the game and um it was just part of who
the game and um it was just part of who I was and when the opportunity came to work in it um I thought it was almost a a dream job.
same as any woman around the world working in a male-dominated organization. Um it's not easy. uh you're expected probably to do more than the average man. Um that's just the truth. If you're also a wife and a
mother or just a mother and you have other responsibilities, it can be very difficult to balance those. And within football in particular, not from the players, I have dealt with players, but with the administration, there was a lot
of misogyny. the few that I, you know, women weren't really fit to work in football and they shouldn't be there and you weren't really welcomed as a professional or as an equal. on the way back from Egypt where we had been for
the 2009 under 20 World Cup saw online a newspaper report which had Peter Hagatai on the front page that revealed that Peter Hagatai was employed by us. We
then had our minister's office on the phone saying, "Is this report true?" concerned. How are they going to answer a question in Parliament about the Australian bid team employing a consultant that they we hadn't actually
told anyone about? A good question. Ben said, "I better ring Peter Hagatai." And Peter Hagatai was on the end of the phone screaming and blaming me for the report because this journalist was a friend of mine. He's someone I had known
friend of mine. He's someone I had known for 15 20 years beforehand. And I had not told the journalists that Peter Hagatai was employed bias and I wasn't his source. But Peter Hagatai really screamed at me and blamed me and told me
I was stupid and incompetent and disloyal and all sorts of things. The sort of thing you don't really say to anyone. And the sort of thing it was misogynistic behavior. I look back now and and realize how appallingly I was
treated as a woman and all the men I worked with, not one of them stood up for me in that respect and that was bad enough. I did read a report about 100 female players who had written protesting about the sponsorship by
Aramco. I think it's great to see younger generations of players who are willing to say what they believe and we should be encouraging it. We should be should be encouraging it. We should be encouraging it in the world.
Really, I can't say that I sat there and thought, "Oh, I'm going to be a whistleblower now." In January 2010, I was called into the president's building that he had in Sydney and basically was told by the CEO that I was sacked. And
when I asked why, I mean, I knew why. They didn't like me being around. They didn't like me asking questions. They didn't like the fact that I didn't like being there. He just uh, you know, referred to an email I had sent which
said that I was uncomfortable with one of our consultants. Um, so that was it. I was I was out of a job when I was sacked. Um, people contacted me and said, "What happened?" because people who knew me knew knew that I wasn't
incompetent. They knew that I wouldn't leave willingly. Um that I loved football and I loved the work. So what happened? And as I started to put things together, I realized that the whole process was set up to be corrupt. The
whole process was set up for all the things that were in the guidelines that they said you shouldn't do. I think it's up to people such as journalists in particular who the fourth estate and whistleblowers like myself who are the
fifth estate to bring these issues to the attention of if if not the ordinary football fan at least to people who care about good governance and how decisions are made. At the end of the day that's football's
money and that should be accounted for as money that belongs to the game. There as money that belongs to the game. There were all sorts of um investigations into were all sorts of um investigations into to that time frame in that era. The FBI
to that time frame in that era. The FBI four years later raided uh FIFA meeting four years later raided uh FIFA meeting in Zurich in May 2015 and that led to a range of arrests um and a range of suspensions. Uh set blatter was
suspended in 2015. Then in 2016 there was an election for a new president. Eventually, Muhammad bin Hamman and Jack Warner were suspended from FIFA because it had been reported
from FIFA because it had been reported that Jack Warner had caused 25 payments of $40,000 each to be made to 25 members of the Caribbean Football Association, which is a subassociation of Conquer Cap. And
that was in the context of Muhammad bin Haman wanting to be president of FIFA and the FIFA presidential election coming up in June that year. Back then coming up in June that year. Back then in 2010 for deciding the 2018 and 2022
World Cups, um the president and the executive committee made the decision. It was a vote by 24 men as to who would get the World Cup. Today, first of all, they publish the bidding documents, which is an advance on what we used to
have. They used to be secret. They also have a vote of the entire Congress. That is not to say that the FIFA president doesn't try to influence how that vote will go, but it is an open vote of the Congress. But in many ways, not just in
relation to World Cup bidding, but other things which FIFA does, they're not a lot more transparent. They've developed policies. They've got great PR. Um, they policies. They've got great PR. Um, they spend an awful lot on legal costs. Um,
but there's not a whole lot more transparency and you still have a president who's extraordinarily powerful just like Seth Blatter was and who is very keen to get his own way on a number of things such as who are going to be
the next World Cup host. They're almost despite the vote which is there for show, it's almost a one-man decision as to how that's going to happen. And we see that now with Giani Infantino who is the current FIFA president more or less
saying Saudi Arabia is going to get the 2034 World Cup without any competition and they did. I think the issue around the Saudi World Cup is employment and the use of money, labor laws, all that sort of thing that is still relevant in
Saudi Arabia. Um the decision was not a sort of democratic one. I mean, it was for show, but it wasn't really. And I think it just shows that in FIFA
today, money continues to talk. If someone was to look at the history of funding and sponsorship of FIFA and World Cups, you would find that change over decades as the powers within world sport have pivoted. Once upon a time,
the power was very much with the Americans. It then brought in the Chinese and the Russians and now the Middle East. And that's where World Middle East. And that's where World Sport is heading.
listening to this or watching this and want retaliation of some sort and you do have to be prepared for it. You also have to be emotionally prepared for it. Um it's very difficult to be a whistleblower and it doesn't leave you
um once you're a whistle. It's almost like having played football for your former footballer, you're a footballer you're a whistleblower. And so the impact on your life um is there forever.
I don't think I could have come forward any sooner than I did. One of the things any sooner than I did. One of the things about uh being an employee is you have about uh being an employee is you have to do your job. Um and so I did it what
I thought was the right thing and I I raised questions. I raised concerns. I did that internally thinking that was the right way to go. I have been sent threats in the past. I have been surveiled. I have been followed. I have
surveiled. I have been followed. I have had fake websites, fake emails, fake social media accounts set up in my name. And so when I was no longer there, I was freed to be able to talk about these things. When I was sacked and then when,
you know, was known that I was a whistleblower, I was told I would never work in Australia again. In terms of finding employment with an employer, that's absolutely correct. It was almost impossible to find a job. So, I went
about and created my own. Um, so I have my own business. I'm a I'm I have a publishing business called Fair Play Publishing. We specialize in publishing books about football, mostly non-fiction books, but also fiction. And to date, we
have published 75 books and we're still going strong. I'm very proud of that. I see it as telling Australian football stories and about its culture and about its people. um that will stand the test of time because those books will be
there in a hundred years time and I certainly don't regret being a whistleblower. I there's certainly been tough times for my family and myself and life does change but I'm often asked would you do it again and the answer to
would do that again is nothing to do with me it's to do with um my love for football and the way I think that it should be run and our our in our
should be run there should be accountability there should be transparency and there should be greater democracy in terms The people who are able to participate in [Music]
star at USC and then ran one of the biggest illegal sports betting businesses in America. This is how crime works. the early 2007 all the way till my arrest in 2015. In the illegal gambling
industry, there's close to $673 billion a year that's gambled. The biggest wager I took was a4 million on a Super Bowl bet. And uh eventually once I started
taking bets from the cartel, the bets became bigger and bigger. It took me to sober up to realize like, wow, what what the was I doing?
2000 for volleyball and I got offered a volleyball scholarship two years later walking on to the USC football team. I was a tight end for the 2003 and 2004 national championship team and I I was on special teams as well. My first job
real estate developer out of Los championship ring and he hired me on the my team." So, you know, right out of college, 2004, 2005, I'm, you know,
getting paid commissions on any deals I bring in. And life was good, right? You that's what you go to school for. You go to USC for the networking. And, uh, everybody. I had this rolodex and I I would keep their phone number, keep
their email, and always put it in my mind. Dad's proud, mom's proud. Everyone's looking at me like, "Wow, the Golden Boy, the SC Golden Boy, he he graduated. He's working for a developer. he's he's going to be the man one day.
he's he's going to be the man one day. And then that recession hit 2007. And I remember I was like the first one or two guys to go. And obviously growing up as a kid, you you watch, you know, the great movies like Good Fellas and Casino
and Scarface. So I was like, man, what if I could be a bookie? I went to my Rolodex and I I remember my dad had a friend that was Italian, that was a bookmaker. I was like, "Man, maybe if my dad will understand the situation that I
his friend." And I kept begging my dad. And finally, I think after like the 15th time, my pops is like, "All right, one one meet up with Ton Tony and that's it." We met at this this underground bar and it was like a basement I walked in
and I I give Uncle Tony an Italian kiss on each side. I said, "I got the perfect network, man. Let me utilize it." He says, "Man, listen. I'll see what you can do. I'm going to my friends that are now in the NFL. I'm going to my friends
that are, you know, working on Wall Street and uh everyone's starting to bet with me and uh the first 6 months like on one player, this big this big big lost a million dollar in cash. I got paid $200,000 commission. And I went
I'm doing all the work, man. You you guys are taking 80%." I said, "You got to let me. These are my customers. Let me let me get a little more, man." He goes, "I can't do it." In that day forward, I said, "Okay, you can't do it.
No problem. I'm going to figure out a way to do it myself." Yon Porter Carrero, you know, was my mentor in the sports betting. He was the boss of Uncle Tony. He was with Matra Sports. I got my hands dirty. I flew offshore. I'm
watching uh and I'm learning and everything that happens, I'm paying attention to because I'm putting in my mind, okay, this is how I'm going to Rica and build my own. You got this guy moving the lines. You got this guy
answering the phones for VIP customers. You got Debbie and Tina answering the phones. Okay, I get it. Now I understand what I need to build. And they got what I need to build. And they got busted, I believe, in 2013 under a Macho
bookmaking. And as soon as they got taken down, my network expanded 10fold. You know, I went to every customer he had and said, "Hey,
Betto Dog is." And that's when my my company blew up. I flew to Costa Rica, which was the mecca of sports betting. And I went to every office in San Jose
and and I said, "Hey, I know you guys do call centers down here for sports know, I went to 20 different offices. And I found one that was in a town called Playa Hermosa. I started to pay a service where I I'd pay like $10
for each customer that gambled with me. I started my website called bettoodog.com. My nickname was OD dog in college. So you get to basically create your own domain. You get a 800 phone number and you can start acting as as a
number and you can start acting as as a bookie. So one outfit can manage, you know, hundreds of different bookies. So I started started my my business like that where I'm paying a weekly fee and now I'm the book. So I'm collecting all
the money. I'm only taking little bets like $1,000 here, $1,00 here, $200 here. I was like, "Okay, I got to figure out a better strategy." So, I went back to Costa Rica. We ended up setting up our own office where I had my own people
that were under my payroll that moved the lines specifically to Las Vegas. And VIP customers that would answer the phone directly. Hey, this is B O Dog. How can I help you? Oh, hi, Mr. Drew. What's your password? Okay, go. How can
I help you, Mr. So, it was more of a custom feeling and they weren't betting with this this per headcount um site. I was able to start recruiting all over the United States. And uh I started to become one of the biggest bookies
throughout Los Angeles, expanding to Texas, to Florida, North Carolina, and Texas, to Florida, North Carolina, and and I I got pretty much in every state.
the, you know, early 2007 all the way till my arrest in 2015. Sports betting became legal in 2018. It became legal on a state-by-state basis and it eliminated legal sports betting and illegal sports betting is is very simple. Illegal
bookmaker usually is offshore has a website that's ran through usually Costa Rica, Panama, and you you call an 800 number or you place your your bet through an app that's offshore. A legal sports betting website is, you know, you
put your credit card down. There's a know your customers um form you have to know your customers um form you have to fill out and everything's monitored and fill out and everything's monitored and you pay taxes on that money. The sports
betting world that I was in, you know, was obviously illegal. It was offshore. I would give a line of credit, meaning that if you wanted to play with me, it was like an American Express credit card. You know, I give you say a $10,000
line of credit. That's week to week. and come Monday, once the last Sunday night come Monday, once the last Sunday night football game is is graded, you pay me Wednesday the following week. And if you don't pay me, then uh you know, we
obviously have to go to other matters, whether it's, you know, making phone calls or sending someone to pick up the money. And and that's what's different from today's, you know, legal sports betting. When you you're gambling
through like the Bet MGM or FanDuel, any of the big outfits, you now you you put a credit card up or you deposit cash and that makes it legitimate. So the casinos
or the sports books nowadays never have to worry. They give so much more credit as far as like free play. Okay. So, if you deposit a million, then you get $100,000 in free play. As a as a as a bookie, you know, we offered the same
thing, but we're giving you a line of credit, so you have to basically lose credit, so you have to basically lose the money before we collect.
football teams. So, when I would go to a sports fan, whether you know, most always bet on football. So I'd be like, "Hey, I was part of the last two national championships at USC." I'd show them the ring. I'd show them a picture
of Reggie Bush and I, Matt Matt Liner and I, Carson Palmer, Troy Palamalu, and they would be like, "Wow." And I would I would use that that network because everybody that that gambled had some kind of liking to sports and it was
mostly football. So it was very easy to pull that card. Yeah. You know, the clientele business was always a referral basis. I it always would start small. You know, one guy would say, "Hey, you should bet with OD Dog at Bet OD Dog."
He he played at USC. And sometimes you you would get these guys called Wales. "Man, I was a big line art fan." I'm like, "Oh, your line art fan?" No. Well, listen, who do you gamble with? Oh, you bet with five dimes. I said, "Well, you
bet with B O Dog. I'll introduce you and I'll get you a signed football. How's that?" So, I' I'd call Matt up and, hey, I need a signed football and uh, "Hey, call my customer, my future customer, and be like, "Hey, I'm going to
go meet him at the bar or at a restaurant and and just these guys would be blown away cuz I had that kind of relationship. And it was so easy for me and get people to switch over to my site.
a general contractor. He was extremely large in the commercial construction space. When I was working at the real estate developer's office that this contractor would always step outside and and I would hear him betting on sports,
I went back to him and I told him, "Hey, uh, I know you gamble." I said, "What if I gave you 10% off your losses and 20% free play?" And I didn't care at the time because I just wanted his business. And from there, it just was referral
basis. You know, I ended up getting three guys that were project managers underneath him at the office that were making a quarter million a year in construction and giving me about half of that in their paychecks. The bets
started getting big right after Matra Sports got busted. And uh the biggest wager I took was a4 million on a Super Bowl bet. In the beginning when I first I'm going to lose my whole my whole nest egg, right? And then eventually you
never had a losing year. You know, a lot of athletes and celebrities chose me because I was very discreet, right? You professional athlete, you you don't want to be known that you're betting. With
country club, have a round of golf with me, and if you beat me the week before, I'd be there with, you know, a bag of cash to give you, and you you wouldn't to have your wife know. You wouldn't have a text message saying, "Hey, you
know, here's here's what you owe." It would just be I was very discreet and and I made it so it was comfortable for them. You know, college athletes, you got to remember I went to USC, so they had daddy's
card. I always tell people, we we can use that for anything. I would have these guys, you know, put $100,000 that they owed me on a a Home Depot um charge. That would be, you know, $100,000 in in material I have for a
real estate project I'm doing. So, I would never turn down a method. So, if a guy couldn't pay me in cash, I would say, "Pay me in gold or pay me with a many watches I got paid, whether it was a Rolex or AP. I've even got paid in in
a sailboat. You know, one guy owed me 120,000 and he ended up paying me in a a 120,000 and he ended up paying me in a a catamaran sailboat.
you're always trying to get an edge, whether you know, you get inside information on on a team. Let's just say, for instance, that UNLV's quarterback's going to be out because he let's just say he he had a cold and and
no one knew. But if I knew the wide receiver and he came and told me that information, I would be like, "Okay, let's change the odds real fast here. now because we know the quarterback's not going to play." So you get an edge
and anytime you have an edge in in in sports betting, it it's it's huge. As a sports betting, it it's it's huge. As a book maker, uh at a very young age, my my mentor told me, "Hey, why don't you see if you know your your old
quarterback will throw the game? We'll offer him $100,000." So it it happens, offer him $100,000." So it it happens, you know, it's just whether it it can be played out because it when you're when you're gambling in the division one
Now, if it was like a smaller school, like a division three school, then it would be a lot easier to to pay someone off. A prop bet is uh a proposition wager. So, it would be, let's give an example. If Kansas City's playing the
Philadelphia Eagles in the Super Bowl, the proposition bet would be who's going to score the first touchdown? Would it be Kansas City Chiefs or the Philadelphia Eagles? Or another prop bet could be will the quarterback throw over
or under two and a half touchdowns. So prop bets make the game more exciting. So you you can have it for specific players. You can have it for teams. You can have it for for anything basically. You can even have a proposition who will
become president of the United States. Will it be Obama or will it be President Trump? So that's what a prop is a proposition wager. Once the system was in place, um, I realized that I had so many gamblers betting on sports, I
decided to expand my gambling empire. And I started to realize there was a niche for a live dealer. So, I would offer my clients that were betting on sports now to bet on table games. In Costa Rica, I set up a live dealer where
I would have a blackjack table and I would have the cameras on the dealer. So now I have my dealer in Costa Rica on camera basically dealing the cards. And now as a as a customer, you feel like you're not getting cheated because
you're playing against a real dealer that's live. So once I expanded that, I had a lot more clientele coming to me now because now they didn't even have to go to Las Vegas. NFL star who got indicted on my case, won three Super
Bowls, Derrick Lavell, was was a gambling customer of mine. Paris Hilton bet with me. There's definitely a lot more, but I'm not going to go into more, but I'm not going to go into detail.
CFO and he would call literally every every Sunday he would send out an email. If you lost, he would send out an email Sunday night. So, Monday morning when they get to their office, they'd have an email. If they lost, it would be an
email. If they lost, it would be an email that says you lost $2,60052 options. I had a gold business called the Gold Fellas. And I I would give them
three options. They could pay by PayPal, they could pay on a credit card through through a banking system. And we had shell companies. So the way I did it America, Chase, and Wells Fargo. Those were the three top banks. So, I had
these shell companies for each bank. The guy would get to his office Monday morning and he could he could literally pay any way he wanted. He could pay right there on PayPal or he could run his credit card and it would be charged
saying that he purchased, you know, x amount of dollars of gold. And that was our our strategy. Now, if a guy won, we would send the same exact email to the would send the same exact email to the winner and we'd say, "You won $32,000.
How would you like to be paid?" This was before the deposits of cash was a big deal, you know. So, we we would allow $9,900 we could deposit in cash into your account. So, if a guy hit me for, let's say, $29,000,
he could give me three accounts. So, I could go $999.99 and pay through the banking system, which made it easier. A lot of people would send a runner and my runners would make a $100 a drop. So, if a guy, like I
said, won $30,000, I'd say, "Hey, runner A, go ahead and take it to Tony P over there and give him 30,000." And we would pay on Monday. And that's what blew us up because most bookies, what they do is they go collect from the losers and then
they pay the winners, but they don't pay the winners till like Thursday, Friday. But I had a big enough bankroll at the time that I was able to pay my my reason I paid them on a Monday is I want them to have the money in the hand. When
someone has the money in hand, they're more likely to gamble it away and lose more likely to gamble it away and lose it faster.
the winnings, the way I hid the money was gold and silver. My credit system was gold and silver. My credit system was all based on how how fast and and how well you paid me. So, if if you were on a credit line of 20,000 and in the
first week you lost 10,000 and you paid me, you know, right away without any excuses, I would bump that credit line up to 50,000. If you gave me any kind of you were a slow pay, like it took you a month to pay me a $5,000 marker, then I
would I would drop your line of credit. You know, I try to minimize the credit you don't want much of a paper trail. Towards the end, you know, some people couldn't pay me with cash and that's when I set up the the gold company and I
offered a gold service where I had, you know, private vaults in Beverly Hills and if you purchase gold from me, I would store your your gold and silver there and if if you if you needed to be paid in cash or gold, I I offered that
option. So, it made it simple for me because a lot of guys say in North Carolina that owed me, let's say, 50,000. I'd just say, "Hey, uh, hey, Timmy, I'm going to run your credit card for for 5 days for right around 9,000,
invoice for for some gold that you purchase from me." And that would legitimize the transaction. Gold was the key to to the laundering system because you could purchase gold with cash and then you could take that gold and and go
to a gold store and and you can give them any kind of bullion whether it's 1 ounce or 100 pounds and the bullion if gold is trading at whatever that value is, the gold company will collect
it and then they'll send a wire anywhere in the world. So that's how I would launder it. One of the ways I had to get money out of of a country was was through bullion. I was in Australia and one of the the ways that I was going to
get the gold out of Australia was to research what's the most popular thing and I did some homework and I found out that UGG boots are the most sold items know, thousands and thousands of pairs of UGG boots. And I'd have the 1 oz
of UGG boots. And I'd have the 1 oz rounds and I would take four 1oz rounds and I would put it in the sole of the UGG boot and I would tape it underneath the sole. At the time I want to say it was, you know, $1,500. So you're looking
was, you know, $1,500. So you're looking at uh $6,000 per UGG boot. There's two UGG boots. That's $12,000. And I was, you know, sending 10 pairs of UGG boots every week. So that's 120 grand I'm laundering through Ugg boots and gold
weekly. You have to move money offshore because you want to protect yourself from the US government. And when you're offshore, you you uh you avoid the US government finding the the money obviously. So, anytime you can get
obviously. So, anytime you can get somewhere where that that country doesn't associate with the government or cooperate with um any kind of illegal that's the the best place to to launder it offshore. ATMs was key for my
a bank, they're not going to have issues pulling out the cash if they're owner of an ATM business. So, the guys that are working for me own the ATM companies. talk about him. He he was indicted on my case. When he would go in and and pull
out, let's say, $80,000 on a Monday and a h 100,000 on a Tuesday. The the teller some drug dealer, right? The teller is looking at this business that says ATM Unlimited. And he knows right away like that teller knows, okay, this guy's in
the the ATM business. This is this cash is going into ATM machines that's States when they use their ATM machine. It made it real easy to to launder the money through the ATM business because he was benefiting by making 3% and now
I'm getting bags of cash without any um eyes being raised. In the beginning, you dollars a week. And then towards the end of my my downfall, I would say, you of my my downfall, I would say, you know, we we were taking in
between 10 and 20 million of bets in a week. Man, the most sophisticated money I was moving was was the Bank of China. The Bank of China in Australia allowed They would transfer the money anywhere in the world you wanted it. So I would
come into the Bank of China with different IDs and I had, you know, 10 different aliases between me and four other guys and and the Bank of China would look at us. It wouldn't be our name, but they wouldn't know because
they had no clue. And they would wire anywhere in in the world for us. And that that was the the key to my moving my money the fastest. Besides the casinos, you know, the casinos are the best and fastest way to launder money
because there's never any any question because when you're dealing with these high roller um these clients that gamble in the casino, it's very common for them to have money either wired into the cage or cash brought in um through through
or cash brought in um through through gambling gambling methods. really keep track of what I was paying myself, but, you know, I was I was
myself, but, you know, I was I was spending, you know, $200,000 a month in in my uh my partying and and traveling the world. And my my big thing was watches, you know. I I I was probably one of the first guys to to have a
Richard Malay watch back in in 20 uh 2011. No one even knew what a Richard Malay was. I had mansions in Costa Rica, Mexico, Peru, um Hollywood Hills. Um Mexico, Peru, um Hollywood Hills. Um that that was my uh my vice was was that
that that was my uh my vice was was that that luxury lifestyle, fast cars, and and it was ended up being my downfall. I never gambled cuz I was the book. What affected me the most was using drugs. I was I was a party animal. I would go
through an eightball of cocaine a day. I'd do, you know, a half of uh Pyreel hand san hand sanitizer which a hand sanitizer is 2 ounces. I would do one of sanitizer is 2 ounces. I would do one of those every day of GHB um which is you
know terrible for you. I would drink alcohol on a daily basis and uh not one day went by where I wasn't wasn't partying. Gambling and drugs overlap for VIP better because every VIP better likes to party. So when I would take uh
a private jet and I'd fly him to Costa Rica, what's the first thing he wants to do? He wants to do an eightball of, you know, Colombian cocaine, you know, Colombia is only an hour from from Costa Rica. So obviously we have the, you
know, probably the best cocaine in the world there. So when I bring a VIP world there. So when I bring a VIP customer to Costa Rica, you know, and I give him, you know, the best Colombian cocaine he's ever had, and then we we
take him to a sports bar, and I just gave him the best VIP service of his business. When I think of betting and organized crime, I kind of kind of intertwined together because the the the betting world, you know, started with
days, right? The the mob, the Italian mob. For me, they really intertwined in in the organized crime world when I started taking bets for the most infamous cartel in the world. And um obviously, I can't speak on who it was,
but I started taking bets and next thing you know, I'm I'm not only taking bets, now I'm helping them launder money through their illegal activity as well. And that's where my business intertwined and I started, you know, working in the
and I started, you know, working in the international drug trade. I had a bookie out of Newport Beach that worked underneath me and he was Hispanic
and one day he he started to have this this customer bet large amounts on on football and he started paying me every week and it was it was like bags of cash like4 million dollars at a time in duffel bags. And I remember telling this
you got a whale on your hands." He goes, "Yeah, I got I got a guy out of Mexico that bets with me." And I said, "Well, man, keep him happy. Whatever we need to do, keep that man happy." Because I said, "These are like once in a-lifetime
bags dropped off. I'm like, "Man, whatever this guy wants, you just let him know. We give him the VIP treatment. He's no reason for him to go to Vegas. He bets with Betto OD Dog." the subbook. I said, "Hey, whatever that guy needs,
if if if he needs, you know, Laker tickets, if he needs Dodger tickets, the Four Seasons and and have dinner on me, let him know." And didn't think any anything of it. And then finally, this
this customer of of my my my subbookie, he finally hit. He he he hit for close to a quarter million dollars. And as a bookie, you always want your customer to win. I tell people if your customer loses every day, every game, every week,
quit. He's not going to keep doing it because it's not fun. You can't you to give him some because when you give him something, then guess what? He's said, "Monday morning, you're going to be there at 8:00 a.m. sharp." I said, "I
want you to go give him the duffel bag of his money because he's going to he's going to be expecting it." And you know, a couple days go by, my subbookie says, a couple days go by, my subbookie says, "Hey, my uncle really liked how you
that's been gambling. He gambles. He's he lives in Mexico. And he says, "By the way, he wants to talk to you." And he slaps this encrypted phone on on the table. We're at Javier's Mexican restaurant in Newport Beach. And he
gives me that encrypted phone. I'm like, "What the is this?" And he's like, "There's there's no microphone. There's no GPS." He says, "You can't call on it." He says, "All you can do is email." He says, "There's three passwords to get
into that encrypted phone." I'm like, and he he writes me a message and I read it after I got in three three passwords deep. And I get in there and he says, deep. And I get in there and he says, "Wetto, I like the way you do business.
Thanks for paying me." I wrote them back and then responded back. He goes, "I know as a bookmaker, you probably have cash throughout the United States. do you think you can help me move some some money around and I'll pay you? And
then he told me, I need $100,000 dropped off in San Diego. He goes, every time you tra every time you drop off money for me, I will give you 10% fee. So I'm making 10% to drop off $100,000. That's 2 hours away. 100,000 10% that's $10,000
for a 2-hour drive. That's easy. So for me, I just call Tony, my bookie, or Ryan, my bookie, or Robert or Matt. I say, "Hey, Matt, can you drop off 100 grand in San Diego at National City?" Boom. He drops off 100 grand. This guy
"Hey, where do you want the $110,000?" So now I just dropped off 100 I dropped off a h 100,000 cash and now this guy, we'll call him Elfe, is taking 110 and putting it anywhere in the world. Well,
guess what? I'm running this big operation in Costa Rica where I have a 20,000 foot building. So, it would be really easy if he sends me that 110,000 to a Costa Rica bank account. Now, I can pay my employees and I have money to pay
for my rent, pay for my house I'm building. So, now I'm helping this this this member that lives in Mexico clean his money and and he needs things done in North Carolina. He needed a couple hundred thousand. Same thing. So, now
me a fee. But, unbeknownst to me, I still don't know that what kind of trade he's in. and it gets bigger and bigger and it know I'm moving all I'm moving money all over the world for him now at this point
because I was uh making so much money with the cartel and working for them this this whale customer of mine became you know my number one focus so once I gambling was just like an add-on to my business you know I had the cartel's
backing as far as bet betting wise they gave me any kind of money I needed to When you're dealing with the cartel, you know, you can be killed at any time because they have an army of guys that work for them. They have these things,
these guys called Sakarios that are basically their hitman. So, obviously, I with, you know, these celebrities or these professional athletes. But when obviously got to stress and and look over your shoulder all the time. I ship
drugs um internationally for obviously the cartel I work for to Australia, to the cartel I work for to Australia, to Canada, to uh Italy, to Amsterdam um obviously this is all public record so I can talk about it um and throughout
the United States. Uh my big focus was cocaine and obviously we did deal with um ecstasy um MDMA and towards the end they were shipping kilos of China white heroin. I tell people not one day did I not fall
asleep with my eye open. Like I would always have one eye open when I slept. And anytime I traveled with my my my security guards or my sakarios later when I started working for the cartel, you're always on on pins and needles.
You're you're always thinking that something bad could happen. And yes, I something bad could happen. And yes, I obviously regret it. Um but it's it's the path that I chose and I I have to live with it forever. And I'm glad what
prison cuz I told people going to prison is the best thing that happened to me. is the best thing that happened to me. It saved my life. I can't really discuss uh business on the cartel because that would be considered uh cooperation and
that would end up probably costing me my life. Obviously the the FBI gave me the opportunity to cooperate against the cartel and I I refused just just to save can't really talk about that on but but I think anybody that knows anything, the
cartel obviously runs off of illegal drugs and that's how they make their drugs and that's how they make their money. It's common sense.
you never want to put hands on a customer to collect the money because that's when things that's when I say it's the fan, right? So, I tell people it's all about intimidation. You want to put the fear of God in them. I had
collectors that were 66 Simoleons that weighed 30 350 pounds that that's all their job was to do was to intimidate. I would show up to breakfast with with him and I would meet my customer, let's say in in Newport Beach, and my my customer
waiting and I would show up with this, you know, 350lb Simone guy with tattoos on his face and right away my customer would be like, "Okay, how do I pay you?" If that didn't work, I used to take that ID and that ID would have the address.
So with that ID and that address, I was able to give that to my private investigator that was on my payroll and he was able to take access that ID and give me everybody in the family's name that lived at that that location. So
with that information, I would take the wife's name and I'd have my private investigator run the wife's name. And the wife information would be where she works, um what kind of car she drives. And now it makes it easier for my team
to do a little more homework and you know send a bouquet of flowers. So one of my tactics was if the husband was refusing to pay me and just blowing me refusing to pay me and just blowing me off. I would say let's locate where the
wife works, we'll send a bouquet of flowers to her work and we'll leave just a simple message and the message would read, tell your husband it's time to pay up. And once they got the bouquet of flowers and they read it's time to pay
this mean? They'd call their husband. I says it's time to pay up. And the husband would get on the phone and call to my wife again. Where do I pay? I said, well, I'm glad you got the
message. And that's how I use my tactics. You know, I I I definitely say tactics. You know, I I I definitely say I regret um scaring people. I do regret
sending one of my collectors that was supposed to specifically put the intimidation factor into this client. I do regret him going to that client. I do regret him going to that house and his only purpose was just to
basically scare the person because the person would never guess that I would actually have someone collect the money and show up to his doorstep in Minnesota. You know, no one ever thought I would I would send someone for a guy
that owed me $2,000 and and send a collector knowing I'm in Los Angeles and send a collector to Minnesota. But it was principal because the guy had won, you know, $10,000 a week before and now all of a sudden he loses $2,000 and he
told me to me and he's not paying me. So to me that's insulting because now that I paid you and now you're not paying me the two. So, I do regret that I sent a collector to the guy's door and the guy had some balls and he opened the
door and he he he he made a threat to my collector and my my collector ended up hitting him and that got got me an enhancement for you know violent activity uh for illegal bookmaking which in the federal guidelines it raises your
get more time. You know I got 21 and a half years for illegal bookmaking and violence wasn't there on my record, you less. But I do regret that for sure cuz I I never wanted anybody to get hurt in
this business. You know, 95% of the the threats, the the verbal threats or the the bouquet of flowers or, you know, calling sometimes I had customers that that were in their 20s and they didn't want to pay. I'd call
"Hey, your son has a gambling problem. He doesn't want to pay. do you want to pay or do you do you how do you want me to handle this? And usually, like I said, 95% of the time the the family member or the father would pay the debt.
That 5% chance that they didn't, you know, things got ugly. You know, I I can't I can't stop what my collectors are doing. I'm remorseful for what I've done. You know, I put all these bad things on the streets and ruined
thousands of people's lives. And honestly, you know, it took it took me to sober up to realize like, wow, what what the [ __ ] was I doing?
California or the University of Spoiled Children. Raised from a a father that was a construction worker, my mother was a librarian. you you realize that you need to figure out how you're going to survive. Being sidelined as a volleyball
player with an injury, my coach pulled me over and called me in the office and work on your arm strength cuz it's not as strong as it used to be and your vertical jump." And when he told me that, he says, "I'm going to red shirt
you you're going to be red shirted, it's basically saying you're you're put on the bench, you're kicked off until you get better or until you recover. Your get better or until you recover. Your your injury recovers. So that day I I
just remember like I was so bummed out. I came to USC to play sports and I said to myself, man, what am I going to do to speed up this recovery and I decided to go to Gold's Gym and talk to the biggest bodybuilder there and he said, "Uh, you
I want to do it legally." He says, "You got to get steroids." And he starts writing down these these names for me. And he goes, "They're really expensive." don't have money, you can go to the
veterinarian in Tijana." I had my grandfather's car, 1989 Toyota Camry, and I got in that car and I drove to the Tijana border. Pull up to the pharmacy and I I knew I was at the right spot cuz there's like six bodybuilders in there,
just big dudes. And I was like, "Okay, this is the spot." And I go in there and I I slap the the list of names on there and the lady's just marking it off. We got that, we got that. And I'll never forget, she gives it to me and I'm
thinking to myself, okay, how am I going to get these things back? You know, I walk across the border back with them. They're going to stop me. I saw there was some some gauze and some medical tape that was near the bathroom. And I
restroom?" She's like, "Yeah, yeah, go ahead." I said, "Can I purchase some of like, "Yeah, yeah, go ahead." So, I go in the bathroom and I I drop my drawers and I got my compressor shorts on from from my USC volleyball days. And
I I drop those and I just start taping up all these steroids, the vials, and making it, you know, long and and I'm like, "Okay, how am I going to fit it? Okay. And then the pills. Okay, I'm going to wrap those around my legs." And
I wanted to everything to look as small and compact as possible. And I I remember putting my compressor shorts on and going, "All right, let's go." I walked across the bridge back to the US side and you get stopped by customs and
back?" They said, "What were you doing in Mexico?" And my heart dropped like I'm I'm about to lie to this guy, right? I'm like, "I was um at Papa and Beer. We I'm like, "I was um at Papa and Beer. We were you having some some drinks and
some tacos." He says, "Welcome back to America." And he went like this. My heart just was like, "Wow, what a rush." And I to this day, every time I thinking about that that feeling you have that you just broke the law and you
just beat the system. And from that day forward, I was like, "Okay, I'm going to do this for the rest of my life." Because that rush was what I kept get got bigger and bigger and bigger, which led to my downfall.
steroids. I just started taking them and people saw me blowing up and they're guys on the football team asking me and I said, "I'm taking decadalin. I'm taking sustenon 250. I'm taking Winstrol. I'm taking an I'm just listing
to look like you." Like, "Okay, well, I got this bottle for 300. I got these pills for 400. I got this HGH for a,000." And I said, "What do you guys want?" And that was started to become my hustle. And I I would go down to Mexico
every week and and smuggle more steroids back and provide it to the athletes that were all throughout the USC campus. And that was that was my motivation to keep up with the Joneses, be able to afford, you know, dinner out with some cute
sorority girls and and and live life like everyone else is living there. The demand was high. You know, it was it was a thing where every week I was I was taking that Toyota Camry and and driving to the Tijana border, parking at Jock in
the Box and and walking across and the bigger I got, the more baggy clothes I had to wear because I had to cover up the size I had. And I I remember I up the size I had. And I I remember I up one one summer I had uh I had this
summertime and it was like a double XL, but it it covered my muscles cuz at this point I was I was big. I was like 240 lb. And the same question was asked, "What were you doing in Mexico?" And he and he
passed and he he he waved me forward to pass me. But there was another officer you down." Because he saw I was wearing a sweatshirt and it was 100° out. So it looked weird. He's like, "Why are you wearing a sweatshirt in this heat?" And
my heart dropped because I was like, "Okay, is he going to strip me out?" Cuz "Cuz if he goes any lower, he's going to feel the bulge." and the bulge was down down below in the private section. So he's like, "All right, you're good." And
I was like, "Okay, I got to figure out a better way." I started to use my my network of women that I was, you know, friends with and dating and offer them drinks. And on our way back, we'd start we stop at the pharmacy and I say, "Hey,
you 100 bucks." And they put them in their bras and in their underwear. And that that started this my my smuggling tactics. So when I was at SC, I realized not only for the steroids, but there was now I'm in the fraternity and I noticed
all these kids are staying up late to to, you know, complete their midterms or they have finals or papers to write. And I noticed a lot of these kids are taking what is aderall and uh they're buying it from like a local dealer and they're
paying $20 a pill. And then I noticed when they fell asleep, they would take they were so wired from the aderal. So I was like, "Okay, I know I can probably get that down there." So I started to drive to Mexico and start picking up the
aderal, the Xanax, the Valiums, the Somas, and now I became this this black market concier where I was providing everything from from performance-enhancing drugs for the athletes to Xanax and Adderal for for
the sority girls that are staying up. And that became my my new hustle. And it was the markup was ridiculous. I was paying I believe a 50 cents for a Xanax
2 milligram and we were selling them for $5. So it's a,000% markup. And it's it's something small and compact and I can easily transport it across the border and it's only a 2-hour drive from USC. So it workked well.
the day I knew that I was working for the cartel, but I continued to work for them because I was making a million dollars a day in cash. When I lost cartel money, it changed my life forever because now I
became indebted to the cartel. And that's where you have to watch the documentary to see what happens. I nearly spent 10 years in federal prison. I was sentenced to 21 and a half years for racketeering and illegal drug
distribution. I served my federal prison time FCI Lamp I served my federal prison time FCI Lamp Victorville FCI and FCI Inglewood, Colorado. Uh the United States government forfeited a asset forfeiture
of $5 million including millions of dollars of bullion, four homes, three Range Rovers, a Porsche Panamera, and a catamaran sailboat. You know, I have the next 10 years under federal probation and uh every month I'm checking in doing
and uh every month I'm checking in doing a a urine analysis, a UA. Um I have to meet up with my probation officer uh weekly and give them reports for every kind of transaction I do for banking, any kind of money I spend. So, it's it's
it's difficult, but you know what? We're going to get through it because it's a anything illegal. And uh it feels good for once. you know, I was cutting corners because I wanted to make that fast cash and that fast cash ended up
life. You you decide you you want to go down that path and you want to be some some quote unquote gangster. Well, guess what? Gangsters belong in prison and one day if you go down that path of organized crime. My future goals is is
organized crime. My future goals is is uh to to create something that's the opposite what I was doing in the past, right? I was putting these bad things on the streets and my new goal is to put healthy treats on the streets. And the
way I'm doing that is I've created this brand called California Ice Protein and it's a it's a protein ice cream. I wrote my book The California Kid while I was in federal prison and now that's been released and that's out and um for the
documentary called The Cocaine Quarterback and that's uh with Mark Wahberg's company Unrealistic Ideas. I had a great relationship with my father. Um my father was my best friend. He still is my best friend to this day. And
uh you know the relationship obviously was was was damaged when I went to federal prison cuz your your parents don't know that you were involved in organized crime. And uh you know I remember looking at my mother and she
was very disappointed and my father as well. But I think they've accepted uh the fact that I made the mistakes and I believe they see that I'm not going down that path again. And and I've changed my life for the better. And uh I hope
everybody, you know, believes in a second chance because u I'm a prime second chance because u I'm a prime example of of a redemption story.
would you would want to bet on a game, say, "Hey, I want to bet on the Lakers." And the bookmaker would say, "Okay, we got the Lakers at minus 10. Overund is 202." So the player would would bet it
would give you off the phone and write it down on the paper. That was the old school way. And eventually people started betting through the app on online, which technology has grown where it started with www. Now people have
betting apps where they can just bet directly off the app. And now it's gotten so big you can it's called live wagering. So if you're watching a a basketball game and and you bet the the game for let's just say the
bet the the game for let's just say the total was you know over 202 and all of a you're like man my my total is not going to hit. So now you can you can literally place a wager at the time of the game. So, it could be the fourth quarter with
a wager to chase and hopefully catch up to your bet that you're going to lose. This day and era, I think Bitcoin is obviously the the number one currency used for this illegal activity of sports betting. And I remember, man, I kicked
myself for this one. My my manager at the time was calling me and saying, "Hey, this guy wants to take he wants to pay us in Bitcoin." This was like 2015. I think Bitcoin was like $50 a coin at the time. I'm like, man, I don't want
anything to do with that cryptocurrency stuff, man. I don't trust it. Tell him to go himself. He's got to pay us in cash. If I truly believe that there's always going to be a niche for illegal bookmakers, but I feel the future will
have uh legal sports betting. Eventually, people will be able to bet at all sporting event arenas throughout the United States. Sports betting is a vice. It's uh it's an addiction. Now that sports gambling is legal, you see,
you know, promotions everywhere, you know, um, everyone's getting into it from clothing companies to um, alcohol companies and they're all collaborating companies and they're all collaborating together to create a larger betting
atmosphere for for people that are involved with um, sports. I mean, nowadays now when you you're watching a football game and you see a FanDuel commercial or Bet MGM, it's it's obviously used to be taboo, right? And
now you see you you're watching a football game and and you're watching a Bet MGM ad with Jamie Fox and you're like, "Wow, I'm going to bet with them." You know, I I want to bet with with Bet MGM because Jamie Fox bets with them.
And I think it's so much easier now for these these bigger brands to get exposure with all the celebrity base of people they have that are, you know, the forefront of the commercials. And it just generates a lot more activity for
for people to gamble. the offshore bookies, the illegal bookies are still thriving because they're giving the line of credit and and the FanDuels and the DraftKings are no longer able to give a line of credit. They have to take a
credit card or some form of payment. And and there's always going to be that that illegal bookmaker because he's the one that gives you a line of credit. College football has changed drastically since since my days. Now we have the NIL and
guys are getting paid, you know, who would ever thought college players are play the game. I mean, uh, if legal betting and NIL existed when I was playing, it would have been a whole another path for sure.
No doubt. I would have needed to be a illegal bookmaker and obviously if we were paid college athletes, I wouldn't have needed to start the hustle, right? college. So definitely my life would have been extremely different. Even the
the the guys riding the bench like like myself, right, would would still get a paycheck and that would definitely have helped. I I remember reading somewhere that a third string offensive line guy was paid like $80,000 through through
NIL deals. So, just imagine if if I would have had that kind of money back then to be able to, you know, take a girl to dinner or or drive a nicer car, like I was. You know, don't make that right turn because this could happen to
anyone. You know, you you could come from that same family I came from, working class, and you you're trying to fit in with the rich kids and next thing you know, you're doing illegal activity. And uh you know, I wouldn't want to see
anyone serve time in in jail or prison because it's it's no place anybody wants to be. It's it's the bottom of of the earth. It's hell. You're in a 6x8 prison cell and you don't see the sunlight for more
than an hour day and it's it's just a place that you never want to go to. place that you never want to go to. [Music]
please subscribe and comment with more topics that you'd like us to cover in topics that you'd like us to cover in this series.