Former table tennis pro Adam Green admits betting on fixed European matches, raking in thousands during COVID-19 pandemic

A FORMER top Australian table tennis player used inside information and multiple sports betting accounts to place about 1100 bets on fixed matches in Ukraine at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, raking in almost half a million dollars for himself and associates overseas.

Newcastle man Adam Michael Green, now 43, was expected to face a complex trial next month focusing on hundreds of corrupt bets that detectives had alleged were the work of the head of a transnational gambling syndicate.

But on Wednesday, Green - who is represented by barrister Benjamin Bickford and solicitor Drew Hamilton - was re-arraigned in Sydney's Downing Centre District Court and pleaded guilty to using corrupt conduct information to bet on an event and knowingly deal with the proceeds of crime after prosecutors agreed to drop more than 60 other charges.

Another charge of possessing corrupt conduct information and communicating it to another person will be taken into account when he is sentenced later in the year.

Green, who was living at Broadmeadow at the time of his arrest in December 2020, was a former table tennis junior standout, who trained in Europe and was in contention for the 2012 Australian Olympic team.

And during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, when sporting competitions were being disrupted around the world, Eastern European table tennis was one of the only sports that continued without interruption.

As a result, wagering operators began promoting markets on Ukrainian table tennis and, during that brief period when traditional sporting competitions were being abandoned, it quickly became the go-to sport for Australian punters.

Around the same time, Green began communicating via Facebook messenger with a Ukrainian table tennis player based in Eastern Europe.

What started with Green requesting tips on matches in the Ukraine evolved into the European player proposing an arrangement whereby Green would establish a number of betting accounts in Australia and the European player would send him money to bet on fixed table tennis matches.

Adam Green during his arrest at Broadmeadow in December, 2020.

In the messages, the European player told Green: "My friend contact me, he has a lot of results".

The European player offered Green 10 per cent of the profits for placing the bets, but Green was able to negotiate a payment of 20 per cent, court documents said.

Green already had a number of sports betting accounts and started receiving money from overseas and information about fixed matches.

He began placing bets using the inside information about the corrupt games and, to maximise profits, used a number of "bowler" or "mule" bookmaking accounts in the names of at least 11 family members or associates.

He would also place bets using these "bowler" accounts for his personal gain, outside of the agreement with the European player, court documents said.

Between May, 2020 and his arrest in December, 2020, Green placed about 1100 bets on table tennis matches, many of which were made using inside information about fixed matches.

In total, detectives estimate he generated profits of about $473,000 from these bets.

But as part of the negotiations with prosecutors, Green pleaded guilty to using corrupt information to place 63 bets on 39 table tennis matches, which returned a total of about $50,000.

As well as the accounts of 11 associates in Australia, Green also passed on information about three fixed matches to a friend based in the UK.

And between June and December, 2020, Green sent some of the profits to associates in the Ukraine, making 28 separate international fund transfers totalling $190,000.

Each transaction was below the $10,000 AUSTRAC reporting threshold in an attempt to avoid suspicion.

But the authorities were already onto Green after a referral from a gambling company, who had noticed suspicious activity relating to large bets on Ukrainian table tennis in May.

Detectives from the Casino and Racing Investigation Unit, with assistance from Sport Integrity Australia, established Strike Force Brombal to investigate the transnational gambling syndicate and in December, 2020, they raided Green's house at Broadmeadow, as well as eight other properties at Wickham, Hamilton, Stockton, Cameron Park, Hawks Nest and Shortland.

At Green's house, detectives found extensive notes relating to betting accounts for each of his associates, odds on table tennis matches, names of players and bets made on matches.

Adam Green being taken into Newcastle police station after his arrest in December, 2020.

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Sam began his Newcastle Herald career as a night police reporter in 2011. He is an experienced court reporter who has won two national court reporting awards, including the Kennedy Award for Outstanding Court Reporting for his coverage of the Hunter's worst serial rapist. Before working at the Herald, Sam was a sports journalist with the Maitland Mercury where he won awards for his coverage of the Newcastle Rugby League salary cap scandal. Sam is a Novocastrian born-and-bred.

Sam began his Newcastle Herald career as a night police reporter in 2011. He is an experienced court reporter who has won two national court reporting awards, including the Kennedy Award for Outstanding Court Reporting for his coverage of the Hunter's worst serial rapist. Before working at the Herald, Sam was a sports journalist with the Maitland Mercury where he won awards for his coverage of the Newcastle Rugby League salary cap scandal. Sam is a Novocastrian born-and-bred.