Victoria Police has charged five Australians over deliberately losing and simultaneously betting in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive matches, the first charges of their kind in Australia.
The charges stemmed from an investigation by Victoria Police’s Sporting Integrity Intelligence Unit last year, which resulted in six arrests. Five men in Victoria have been charged as a result of that investigation, all with the use of corrupt conduct information for betting purposes, with one of the men also further charged for the possession of cannabis and “conduct that corrupts or would corrupt a betting outcome of an event or event contingency”.
The list of charges is as follows:
- A 20-year-old Mill Park man has been charged with engage in conduct that corrupts or would corrupt a betting outcome of an event or event contingency (section 195C Crimes Act 1958) x2, use of corrupt conduct information for betting purposes (section 195F Crimes Act 1958) x2, and possess cannabis;
- A 20-year-old South Morang man has been charged with use of corrupt conduct information for betting purposes (section 195F Crimes Act 1958) x3;
- A 20-year-old Mill Park man has been charged with use of corrupt conduct information for betting purposes (section 195F Crimes Act 1958) x3;
- A 20-year-old Mill Park man has been charged with use of corrupt conduct information for betting purposes (section 195F Crimes Act 1958) x3; and
- A 27-year-old Sale man has been charged with use of corrupt conduct information for betting purposes (section 195F Crimes Act 1958) x5.
At the time, Victoria Assistant Police Commissioner Neil Paterson told the ABC that as much as $30,000 had been won from the thrown matches. The ABC also reported on Sunday that the investigation started with the ESEA Mountain Dew League, an online league run by third-party organisers ESEA that runs in North America, Europe and Australia.
All five Victorian men will appear in court on September 15, according to Victoria Police.