Armenian criminal group arrested in Spain in fixed tennis matches case

The Spanish Civil Guard has taken a large Armenian criminal group into custody.

The group was engaged in fixing tennis matches, and operated from February 2017. They made millions of euros by fixing sporting events.

How it all worked

A total of 83 people were detained, among them 28 professional tennis players.

The investigation revealed that the suspects bribed athletes to forfeit matches. After that they used the personal data of thousands of residents to make bets, earning huge amounts of money.

The names of the members of the criminal group have not yet been made public by law enforcement officers. It is also not yet known whether the arrested Armenians are citizens of Armenia or other countries.

During the operation, 11 searches were conducted in nine Spanish provinces.

Spanish law enforcement agencies have also reported that the criminal group bribed players in the Futures and Challenger tournaments.

In total, the organization fixed more than 90 matches. A possible connection between the Armenian-Spanish gang with the Armenian-Belgian group, which was detained in Belgium in June 2018, is being investigated. This group is also suspected of fixing matches.

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Social media

In Armenia, social media users are actively discussing the news. Here are some comments from Facebook.

“People like you disgrace the republic.”

“Well, something needs to be done so that the Diaspora Armenians are sent back to Armenia, otherwise nobody will return. How else do you imagine extensive repatriation…?”

“And again, Armenians are involved in such messy stories.”