Investigators hot on trail of Storm betting plunge

[Berkeley_Eagle]

Investigators hot on trail of Storm betting plunge

DANIEL RAMUS

May 16, 2010
http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/...il-of-storm-betting-plunge-20100515-v5ey.html



The NRL has confirmed that investigations concerning punters who placed bets on the Melbourne Storm to win the wooden spoon before the club was booted out of the competition are ongoing.
John Brady, the NRL's director of media and communications, confirmed the NRL had received information from a number of betting outlets. ''We got information off 15 of the agencies and we've had somebody investigating that,'' he said.
''They haven't finished. They're still going through a lot of records and finding out what they can. They'll give us a report on it when they're in a position to do so.
''I checked with them [last] week and they're not in a position to do that yet. They said, 'We've still got a lot of stuff to get through'.
''We'll know more when they come back to us.''
The NRL appointed Gail Clifford, a former policewoman and security expert, to undertake the investigation into a number of bets placed on the Storm to finish last before the club was sensationally stripped of all competition points and told it could not accrue any further points in 2010 for serious salary cap breaches.
A punter placed a bet to win $10,500 on the Storm to win the wooden spoon on April 13, the same day club chairman Rob Moodie alleges the Storm board learned of the extent of the rorts. A betting plunge then started on the evening of April 21, when a bet of $200 to win $40,000 was believed to have been placed with TAB Sportsbet at a club or hotel. That plunge continued into the morning of April 22, when bets were placed with various agencies. Later that afternoon, the Storm's penalties were handed down.
Betfair's Hugh Taggart told The Sun-Herald on April 25 that he provided the NRL with the information it needed as early as April 24. He also hinted that Betfair could track everything the NRL would need, including computer IP addresses.
''That's information we would have at hand, so that will be with them as soon as possible,'' he said. ''We have the personal information of all our customers who bet because all of our betting is account-based. We can trace absolutely every brush stroke of the keyboard.''

 

[20knights10]

What's to investigate? Some punters took a shot at the NRL getting heavy handed with the Storm when most were expecting a minor slap on the wrist for the poster kids. I certainly wasn't expecting as severe a punishment for them and neither were most posters in here going by the nature of the earlier threads, so good luck to them. Of course if any of the punters (or close friends or relatives) turns out to be on the Storm's board then that would be a different scenario.

 

[Dutchy]

Because it was before the news broke.

 

[Danish]

I don't understand why the investigation would take so long.

The betting agencies would know who put the bets on. All that is required is for those names to be given to the NRL and if any of them are NRL employees involved in the process then the bets would be voided.

Other than that, whats to investigate?? IMO the NRL receptionist or someone else close the the storm got a whiff that the club was going to be stripped of points and placed a bet thats just fine. No different to getting the inside word on a horse.

 

[Jatz Crackers]

I don't understand why the investigation would take so long.

The betting agencies would know who put the bets on. All that is required is for those names to be given to the NRL and if any of them are NRL employees involved in the process then the bets would be voided.

The Privacy Act.

Any organisation who collects the personal details of individuals is regulated by those provisions from releasing personal information.

Id be interested to see just how the betting agencies & the NRL are going to navigate around those provisions.

 

[Danish]

I would imagine the betting agencies would have terms and conditions which members must accept before signing up which get around that

 

[Molly]

What's to investigate? Some punters took a shot at the NRL getting heavy handed with the Storm when most were expecting a minor slap on the wrist for the poster kids. I certainly wasn't expecting as severe a punishment for them and neither were most posters in here going by the nature of the earlier threads, so good luck to them. Of course if any of the punters (or close friends or relatives) turns out to be on the Storm's board then that would be a different scenario.

Look like you are having a bet both ways here.

The link here is how this impacts on the legal challenge regarding the setting of the penalties and how they came about. If these bets were laid earlier than the penalties being handed down, then it will help establish the course of time regarding how the penalities came into being.

Remembering the Storm are claiming that they were not given due process.

Regardless of which side of the opinion you sit, this is where this investigation is heading in my view, If it turns out someone from the NRL leaked the info, it will make the legal challenge that bit stronger.

In my view the legal challenge is going to bring this whole saga much more out in the open, more so than if the NRL were allowed to keep info secured and release only bits and pieces. All the guilty parties involved in the cap breach are much more likley to be exposed, which surely must be a good thing.

 

[bartman]

Remembering the Storm are claiming that they were not given due process.

Remembering the Storm Directors making this challenge are also dreaming...

Due process is when you break a rule, you cop a penalty. The fact that no-one anticipated the breaking of a competition rule in this way and so a unique penalty had to be constructed, does not entitle the rule breaker to have any say in what that penalty is, or any recourse to appeal.

Their recourse is that if they don't like the penalty imposed by the ruling body, they can simply withdraw from that ruling body's competition.

 

[stormbati]

Remembering the Storm Directors making this challenge are also dreaming...

Due process is when you break a rule, you cop a penalty. The fact that no-one anticipated the breaking of a competition rule in this way and so a unique penalty had to be constructed, does not entitle the rule breaker to have any say in what that penalty is, or any recourse to appeal.

Their recourse is that if they don't like the penalty imposed by the ruling body, they can simply withdraw from that ruling body's competition.

Surely they wouldn't be this stupid to go ahead with the challenge if it is as you say.

 

[The EELiminator]

Surely they wouldn't be this stupid to go ahead with the challenge if it is as you say.

even if they win the nrl will just appeal or maybe sue them for breach of contract if they have a case

 

[Keysee]

even if they win the nrl will just appeal or maybe sue them for breach of contract if they have a case

Please read all of this before replying.

A lot of posters to this forum belong to Manly or Parra, I would like to throw a hypothetical.

Next weekend - JHayne or AWatmough throw an arm and decapitate and kill a player and is not placed on report by the referee. This is obviously the worst hit ever in the NRL. The headhoncho looks at the incident and without all evidence and without notifying the judiciary decides that they are suspended for 7 years. TOTALLY IGNORES DUE PROCESS AND NRL CHARTER, but is guilty. Player is given 15 minutes before press conference to plan defence. None comes to mind. Accepts penalty.
Other 15 clubs hate Hayne and Watmough because they are good (and cheats) and so they support headhoncho decision.

Comes to light down the track that headhoncho never had the power to make the decision, never followed the process to come to the penalty, and finally IF HE HAD FOUND OUT HOW BIG THE CRIME WAS, THE PENALTY WOULD BE BIGGER..... Would you appeal ???? You all say that Storm should take their punishment (and I agree) but in Gallops haste to get on TV, he has butchered law. I think he has been exceptional for NRL but I also think in this case, he has buggered up.

IF YOU SAY F*CK THE STORM AND THE PROCESS, THEN SAY OK IF THE SCENARIO ABOVE HAPPENS TO YOUR CLUB.

 

[Keysee]

I don't understand why the investigation would take so long.

The betting agencies would know who put the bets on. All that is required is for those names to be given to the NRL and if any of them are NRL employees involved in the process then the bets would be voided.

Other than that, whats to investigate?? IMO the NRL receptionist or someone else close the the storm got a whiff that the club was going to be stripped of points and placed a bet thats just fine. No different to getting the inside word on a horse.

Look for the names Davud Gallup or Rebecca Wilsun on the TAB account, apparently they want their salary cap increased.

 

[manly40gimps0]

NRL calls in horse racing steward to expose Storm salary cap cheating merkins.

Racing NSW's chief steward Ray Murrihy has agreed to assist an investigation into wooden-spoon betting by punters who had prior knowledge of Melbourne Storm penalties.
A series of bets were placed in the 48 hours leading up to the club being stripped of all competition points for the 2010 season.
The NRL is trying to determine if any employees, including players, coaching staff or officials, at any of the 16 clubs were involved

http://www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,8659,27155351-5018866,00.html

 

[Fui!!!]

Please read all of this before replying.

A lot of posters to this forum belong to Manly or Parra, I would like to throw a hypothetical.

Next weekend - JHayne or AWatmough throw an arm and decapitate and kill a player and is not placed on report by the referee. This is obviously the worst hit ever in the NRL. The headhoncho looks at the incident and without all evidence and without notifying the judiciary decides that they are suspended for 7 years. TOTALLY IGNORES DUE PROCESS AND NRL CHARTER, but is guilty. Player is given 15 minutes before press conference to plan defence. None comes to mind. Accepts penalty.
Other 15 clubs hate Hayne and Watmough because they are good (and cheats) and so they support headhoncho decision.

Comes to light down the track that headhoncho never had the power to make the decision, never followed the process to come to the penalty, and finally IF HE HAD FOUND OUT HOW BIG THE CRIME WAS, THE PENALTY WOULD BE BIGGER..... Would you appeal ???? You all say that Storm should take their punishment (and I agree) but in Gallops haste to get on TV, he has butchered law. I think he has been exceptional for NRL but I also think in this case, he has buggered up.

IF YOU SAY F*CK THE STORM AND THE PROCESS, THEN SAY OK IF THE SCENARIO ABOVE HAPPENS TO YOUR CLUB.

:lol: Running out of straws?

The betting was suspended in the morning, bets were made for Mel to get the spoon the night before. Chances are, the punishment was decided before then. So, the Storm had all night and all day to tell Gallop they didn't want to accept the penalty. But what did they do? They went along to the press conference and accepted the punishment.

 

[ThinkOfTheChildren]

So you say the NRL called in an external investigation (as opposed to an internal investigation that they could control) because they are actually the culprits, but would want to be seen to make this investigation look honest ? Fair dinkum :crazy:

My question is when are the storm fans & the storm club going to cease putting forward these ridiculous deflections and accusations & just accept what their club has done and apologise to the rugby league community.

I am fast coming to the conclusion that without a very public aplology the storm should never again be part of the competition.

Fast coming to the conclusion? WOW! You are privileged to live in astrological time! I admire you for holding out for life on mars, but shout yourself a mars bar, it will be more rewarding!

 

[Jatz Crackers]

Fast coming to the conclusion? WOW! You are privileged to live in astrological time! I admire you for holding out for life on mars, but shout yourself a mars bar, it will be more rewarding!

Your a bit slow. I was an early adoptor in my stance about the storm issue. Feel free to research that while demolishing your own mars bar.

 

[ThinkOfTheChildren]

Your a bit slow. I was an early adoptor in my stance about the storm issue. Feel free to research that while demolishing your own mars bar.

You're a bit slow Maybe! Was it ground breaking realising the storm were a bunch of cheats?

Jatz with a bit of cheese works for me though!

 

[Jatz Crackers]

You're a bit slow Maybe! Was it ground breaking realising the storm were a bunch of cheats?

Jatz with a bit of cheese works for me though!

Your going to need to step up the training sessions, what with all those mars bars and cheese platters.

 

[ThinkOfTheChildren]

Your going to need to step up the training sessions, what with all those mars bars and cheese platters.

I'll let your slip up slide Jatz, but I expect better in the future! and no more cheese!

 

[El Diablo]

http://www.theage.com.au/sport/whodunit-tab-is-determined-to-find-out-20100524-w80z.html

Whodunit? TAB is determined to find out
MARK HAWTHORNE
May 25, 2010

THE hunt is on for the identity of Melbourne Storm's ''No. 1 ticket-holder'' - the mystery punter who bet $200 on Storm to claim the 2010 wooden spoon the night before the National Rugby League stripped the club of all competition points this season.

On Wednesday, April 21, Melbourne Storm was the premiership favourite, yet a punter walked into a TAB outlet at a Melbourne hotel at 9.30pm that night - not in Sydney, as has been reported - and placed five successive bets totalling $200 on Storm to finish last. At odds of 200-1, the punter holds winning tickets worth $40,000.

It wasn't until 4pm the next day that the NRL announced Storm would be fined $1.1 million, stripped of two premierships and - most importantly for the punter - earn no competition points in 2010.

By that time about 400 bets had been laid with bookmakers across the country, and the odds tumbled to 20-1 before suspicious bookies closed the market. A TAB Sportsbet spokesman, Glen Munsie, said at the time: ''We got a huge number of inquiries. We kept making Storm shorter but that didn't stop them. We shut the market at 1pm. It was going out of control. By then you could have put it up at $1.05 and they [punters] would have taken it.''

According to Tabcorp sources, the punter who made the cash bets totalling $200 on the Wednesday night had a ''good knowledge'' of the company's procedures. TAB outlets pay out a maximum of $10,000 without requesting photo identification. By making five bets, none of which would return more than the $10,000 limit, the punter may have been trying to avoid handing over ID.

TAB executives have noted the five bets were placed at a hotel, rather than at a TAB outlet. ''All TABs have extensive video surveillance, but cameras used at pubs and hotels can vary,'' a source said. ''Whoever put on the bets knew what they were doing, given the $200 was split into a number of smaller tickets.''

Which leaves one lingering question: Who knew Storm was facing such harsh penalties?

A meeting to discuss the club's fate was held in Sydney at 11am on Thursday, April 22. At that meeting were: NRL chief executive David Gallop, league auditor Ian Schubert, league spokesman John Brady, Storm chairman Rob Moodie, the club's acting chief executive Matthew Hanson, News Ltd's Craig Watt, and NRL lawyer Tony O'Reilly.

Almost all, we are told, would have sensed that Moodie and Hanson were flying to Sydney in order to confess to salary cap rorts.

Another conversation regarding Storm has also raised eyebrows. It took place on the 28th floor of Crown Metropol, where James Packer was in town for the opening of the new hotel on the Wednesday night. Guests at that soiree overheard Andrew McManus, a music promoter with ties to the club, arguing with a News Ltd executive. The gist of the fight was that Storm was in strife over salary cap breaches, and former CEO Brian Waldron was being blamed for the mess.

One thing remains for sure: the TAB will be keeping tabs on those winning tickets when it comes time to collect. Few outlets will pay out very large cash amounts, and winning punters are often asked to return later for their money. A cheque would require ID from the winner.

The final option is for the punter to scan the winning tickets at an electronic terminal and accept $40,000 in betting vouchers. The TAB has the ability to flag the tickets and ensure vouchers are not paid, forcing the punter to go to a TAB counter to be paid in person.

Time, it seems, may yet resolve this mystery.