Jail for cheating Pakistan trio and corrupt agent for part in cricket spot-fixing

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UK, Nov 3, 2011: Three of the world’s top cricketers have been imprisoned by judge Justice Cooke as their match-fixing was ’so serious that only a sentence of imprisonment will suffice.’

Former Pakistan Test cricket captain Salman Butt was jailed for 30 months for his part in the conspiracy, bowler Mohammad Asif was jailed for one year, and Mohammed Amir sentenced to 6 months in prison.

The trio plotted to bowl deliberate no-balls in the Lord’s Test against England last summer as part of a lucrative betting scam.

Corrupt cricket agent Mazhar Majeed was jailed for two years and eight months for his role in the fixing.

Justice Cooke said as he summed up this morning: ’Your motive was greed, despite the legitimate rewards on offer in salaries and prize money.

’You have let down all supporters of the game.

’The image and integrity of what was once a game but is now a business has been damaged in the eyes of all.’

He added the the offences were ’so serious that only a sentence of imprisonment will suffice.’
Majeed’s woe increased yesterday as his £135,000 DB9 Aston Martin was repossessed and towed from outside his £1.8 million home in Croydon south London.

The maximum sentence for cheating is two years in jail and an unlimited fine, while accepting corrupt payments carries a sentence of up to seven years and an unlimited fine.

London’s Southwark Crown Court heard yesterday that Majeed had paid Asif £65,000 to stop him switching to a rival match-fixing ring.

During a fiery session yesterday an unnamed Pakistan cricketer was also implicated by a defence lawyer.

But Mohammad Amir’s claim that his cricket fixing was ’isolated’ to just one game was thrown out by the judge.

Unlike his two teammates, who were convicted of conspiracy to cheat at gambling and conspiracy to accept corrupt payments, Amir pleaded guilty to the charge, insisting that he was forced to bowl no-balls in that single match.

However, Mr Justice Cooke dismissed his claims that it was ’an isolated and one-off event’ and ruled that text messages sent from shadowy contacts in Pakistan suggest the young cricketer was also implicated in fixing during the Oval Test earlier in the summer

The agent received £150,000 in cash from an undercover reporter from the News of the World as part of an arrangement to rig games, including a promise that Amir and Asif would deliver three no-balls at pre-arranged points in the Lord’s match.

He paid £2,500 of the money to Amir, £10,000 to Butt and £65,000 to Asif, and planned to give them more in the future, the court heard.

Explaining why Asif was paid so much more than his team-mates, Majeed’s barrister, Mark Milliken-Smith QC, said: ’The larger amount was paid in order to ensure that that player remained, as it were, loyal to these people, the players within the dressing room, rather than to others by whom he might be tempted.’

Asif’s lawyer, Alexander Milne QC, denied that the player received any money for bowling the no-ball at Lord’s.

Majeed, a married businessman with three young children, from Croydon, south London, claimed he only became involved in fixing at the request of Butt, whom he managed and was close friends with, the court heard.

Majeed has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to cheat and conspiracy to make corrupt payments.

Mr Milliken-Smith said his client did not recruit any of the Pakistan cricketers to fixing, telling the court: ’He was, we respectfully submit, yes, the arranger for the players. He was not the corrupter.’

Butt’s barrister, Ali Bajwa QC, strongly denied Majeed’s claims that the former captain initiated the fixing scam.

The agent received £150,000 in cash from an undercover reporter from the News of the World as part of an arrangement to rig games, including a promise that Amir and Asif would deliver three no-balls at pre-arranged points in the Lord’s match.

He paid £2,500 of the money to Amir, £10,000 to Butt and £65,000 to Asif, and planned to give them more in the future, the court heard.

Explaining why Asif was paid so much more than his team-mates, Majeed’s barrister, Mark Milliken-Smith QC, said: ’The larger amount was paid in order to ensure that that player remained, as it were, loyal to these people, the players within the dressing room, rather than to others by whom he might be tempted.’

Asif’s lawyer, Alexander Milne QC, denied that the player received any money for bowling the no-ball at Lord’s.

Majeed, a married businessman with three young children, from Croydon, south London, claimed he only became involved in fixing at the request of Butt, whom he managed and was close friends with, the court heard.

Majeed has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to cheat and conspiracy to make corrupt payments.

Mr Milliken-Smith said his client did not recruit any of the Pakistan cricketers to fixing, telling the court: ’He was, we respectfully submit, yes, the arranger for the players. He was not the corrupter.’

Butt’s barrister, Ali Bajwa QC, strongly denied Majeed’s claims that the former captain initiated the fixing scam.

Courtesy: Daily Mail