Suspended Pakistani cricketers face criminal charges under British law
The suspended Pakistani cricketers - Salman Butt, Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif, will face criminal charges in Britain for defrauding English bookmakers after the trio allegedly conspired with bookie, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mazhar-c75448 Majeed, to fix a Test match
against England last year.
Crown Prosecution Service of Britain, an organization responsible for prosecuting criminal cases probed by British police, revealed on Friday that it has summoned the players and their agent Majeed on charges of conspiracy to cheat as well
as conspiracy to pay and receive illegal payments.
The head of CPS, Simon Clements reckoned the organization has enough evidence to convict the cricketers and their agent.
"We are satisfied there is sufficient evidence for a realistic prospect of conviction and it is in the public interest to prosecute", he said.
Clements further added that the ICC established an independent tribunal, that is due to announce its decision on 5 February, but criminal proceedings are active from Friday, 4 February 2011.
A British tabloid, News of the World, had claimed in August that the players have received £150,000 (approximately US$241,000) to deliver few pre-planned no balls in the fourth Test against England at Lord’s.
Following the allegations, the International Cricket Council suspended the trio from all cricket in September last year under Article 2 of its anti-corruption code of conduct.
All the three players have been insisting of being innocent claiming that they have been trapped in a conspiracy but the CPS head said that the organization will apply for expatriation orders against Amir, Asif and Butt if they did not return
to UK next month.
The bookmaker is due to appear at London's City of Westminster Magistrates' Court for an initial hearing on 17 http://www.senore.com/Cricket/March-c74391.
All the investigations into the case have been carried out by http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Scotland-c756 Yard, which has so far handed over two separate reports to the prosecution department. The prosecutors will now look into the matter and decide on further action.
The minimum punishment for defrauding English bookmakers is imprisonment for ten years. The trio can also face heavy financial penalties besides detention, if proven guilty.
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