Akmal brothers, Wahab Riaz named in fixing trial

LONDON: Three more Pakistani cricketers were implicated of involvement in the spot-fixing scandal at the Southwark Crown Court on Thursday during the ongoing trial of former captain Salman Butt and pacers Mohammad Aamer and Mohammad Asif.
The prosecution claimed players' agent Mazhar Majeed, 36, told an undercover reporter he had six players under his control. Apart from those already accused, wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal, his brother and batsman Umar Akmal and fast bowler Wahab Riaz were said to be involved in corrupt practices.
The prosecution also alleged that Salman Butt had deliberately played a maiden over.
The allegations stem from investigative journalism by the now-defunct News of the World newspaper. A journalist posing as an Indian businessman met Majeed to discuss the possibility of staging a tournament in the UAE.
At the end of the conversation, he touched on the subject of fixing games, saying that at least three players would be needed to be involved in the scam, the jury was told. Majeed allegedly replied: "Boss, I've got six already."
According to a website, Majeed has also named batsman Imran Farhat but said he (Farhat) was "not in on the whole picture".
In February this year, an International Cricket Council tribunal announced a sanction of 10-year 'ineligibility' for Butt (with five years of a suspended sentence); seven years for Asif (with two years' suspended) and five years' ineligibility for Mohammad Aamer. Although Kamran Akmal was initially part of the ICC scanner, he had been let off.
Butt and Asif have denied any role in the conspiracy to accept corrupt payments or conspiracy to cheat gamblers. Their trial centres around a Test match against England at Lord's in 2010; but evidence was also heard relating to an Oval Test which took place in the same series.
Aamer and Majeed have not figured in the trial so far. It is being interpreted that they have accepted their guilt. The prosecuting barrister, Aftab Jafferjee, said there was "nothing sinister" in Aamer and Majeed's absence from the proceedings.
Butt 'deliberately played out maiden over'
Majeed's exchanges with Butt were apparently taped by the reporter. These included an assurance from the opener deliberately playing out a "maiden over". Majeed phoned Butt to confirm the deal, the prosecution said. A tapping of the pitch by him after the second ball of the over would confirm the arrangement was on.
The journalist enquired if Butt could be trusted. The agent is said to have replied: "Salman is one million per cent trustworthy". This alleged conversation - recorded by the reporter - took place the night before the start of the Lord's Test on August 21 last year. Prosecutor Aftab Jafferjee said after listening to the conversation: "If not party to this corrupt agreement, you might expect Butt to say something to the effect of, 'What are you talking about?'"
Video evidence was presented to show £150,000 were paid by the undercover journalist to Majeed the same evening to ensure three "no-balls" were also bowled in the match. According to the prosecution, the illegal betting syndicates are controlled by "influential but shadowy" figures in London, Karachi, Mumbai and Dubai, the court was told.
'Rampant corruption'
Jafferjee stated in court that as much as £130 million could be bet on a T20 match in Mumbai alone. "Inside information is thus a hugely valuable commodity, which can only come into existence once players are prepared to participate in the way that they must."
"This case reveals a depressing tale of rampant corruption at the heart of international cricket, with the key players being members of the Pakistan cricket team. There are vast amounts of money to be made in any betting activity if the results are known in advance, and all of that was at the expense of the integrity of the game," the prosecutor added.
Jafferjee said Butt and Majeed were "central" to the conspiracy but they could not have carried out their designs without the participation of Asif and Aamer. "It is the prosecution's case that all four men were involved," he clarified. "The bowlers were willing participants so that they could all profit, those lower down the ladder probably profiting less than those at the top."
The activity, he said, was underpinned by the betting industry in the Asian subcontinent, where gambling on cricket matches alone had a turnover of $40-50 billion a year.
Volumious data - hitherto undisclosed publicly - has already emerged in the case. A considerable part of Jafferjee's argument included details of calls and SMS messages between Butt and Majeed, with Aamer also featuring heavily.
The lawyer revealed the extent to which investigators had gone to expose as much truth in the case as possible. He revealed that a firm in Canada which specialized in exposing deleted messages on Blackberry phones had been used for this purpose.
Caught on tape
London-based sports agent Mazhar Majeed discussed spot-fixing arrangements with cricketer Salman Butt on phone. This was part of a deal with an undercover journalist posing as a rich Indian businessman who had paid £10,000 to fix part of the match.
Majeed assured the journalist - Mazher Mahmood of the News of the World - that Butt would score no runs in his first full over at the Oval.
When the journalist pointed out that a maiden over could happen ordinarily, the agent rang the cricketer on speaker phone to prove he was involved in the fixing scam. Their conversation was recorded by the journalist…
Majeed: "You know the maiden we were doing in the first over?"
Butt: "Yeah."
Majeed: "You know the third over you face? Do one more maiden."
Butt: "No, leave it, okay."
Majeed: "You don't want to do the third over?"
Butt: "Nai, yaar (No, mate)".