Ex-professional footballers, Brian Fok and Luciano, as well as one other man who served as an intermediary have been found guilty in one of the most serious match-fixing scandals in recent years.
Former professional footballer and ex-Hong Kong U23 representative Brian Fok has been convicted over a football match-fixing and illegal betting conspiracy that prosecutors said involved manipulating match outcomes, goals, and corner counts for gambling profit.
The verdict was delivered on Friday at the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts by Deputy District Judge Yu Chun-cheung, concluding one of the most high-profile football corruption cases in Hong Kong in recent years.
Fok, 32, was found guilty of three counts of offering advantages to agents and two conspiracy charges relating to cheating in betting. Fellow footballer Luciano, 38, and betting intermediary Waheed Mohammad, 29, were also convicted.
Goalkeeper To Chun-kiu, 31, was acquitted of all charges.
The four men were originally charged in February 2024 as part of the Independent Commission Against Corruption’s ‘Operation Green Grass‘, an investigation targeting illegal gambling syndicates and match-fixing activities within Hong Kong football.
Prosecutors had alleged that between August 2022 and May 2023, the defendants manipulated matches involving First Division clubs Happy Valley and Central & Western in order to profit from illegal betting markets by influencing match results, total goals, and corner counts.
A summary of the charges against the four men can be found below:
The convictions mark one of the most significant anti-corruption actions involving Hong Kong football in recent years and underline the ICAC’s increasing focus on combating illegal gambling and match manipulation within local sport.
The case represents a dramatic fall from grace for Fok, once regarded as one of Hong Kong’s more promising athletes. Before his football career, he was a secondary school 200-meter sprint champion. He later represented the Hong Kong U23 football team and played for clubs across three continents.
Court finds Fok attempted to lure teammates to manipulate matches
In his ruling, Judge Yu said the evidence demonstrated that Fok deliberately targeted teammates capable of influencing match results.
The court heard that in October 2021, Fok approached Brazilian player Jean Maciel during a Hong Kong Football Club training session and invited him to “do business together.” Confused, Maciel asked Fok for clarification, which the latter explained involved fixing football matches.
Maciel testified that Fok initially offered $10,000 per match if he helped engineer defeats by at least one goal or ensured the team lost by a substantial margin. Maciel said he initially believed Fok was joking, but later realized the offer was genuine after Fok increased the payment to $30,000 a few days later.
Maciel rejected the proposal outright and later informed the ICAC about the incident.
Brian Fok (Credit: HKFC)
Yu noted in his judgment that HKFC was considered one of the weaker sides in the Hong Kong Premier League at the time, however, Maciel was amongst the squad’s more experienced players. The judge said Maciel’s absence from matches alone could have materially affected results.
After Maciel refused to participate, the court heard that Fok attempted to persuade him not to play in an upcoming league fixture against Rangers. Though Fok’s lawyer had tried to argue that Maciel was carrying an injury, the judge ruled that encouraging an influential player not to play constituted an attempt to manipulate the match’s outcome.
Another player, Marcus McMillan, also testified that Fok approached him with a similar proposition. McMillan said Fok explained how many goals the team should concede and offered $10,000 in return.
McMillan testified that while playing for HKFC, he earned a nominal salary of $1 per month as a part-time player. The court described both Maciel and McMillan as honest and reliable witnesses and accepted their testimony in full.
Defendants used signals and WhatsApp groups to co-ordinate match-fixing and gambling
A significant portion of the prosecution’s case centred on WhatsApp group chats allegedly used to coordinate illegal betting activity and discuss match manipulation.
Key prosecution witness Kartik Srivastava, who was granted immunity in exchange for testimony after participating in illegal betting himself, told the court he had joined an investment-themed WhatsApp group that included Fok andWaheed Mohammad after graduating from school.
According to Srivastava, Fok claimed he possessed insider information on football matches in China, Brazil, and Nigeria that could aid the men in gambling.
The court heard that by 2022, discussions within another WhatsApp group had shifted toward manipulating local Hong Kong football matches, including games involving Happy Valley and Central & Western – two clubs which Fok and Luciano were playing for respectively.
Luciano (Credit: Central & Western)
Srivastava testified that Fok would use gestures on the pitch to signal information to bettors watching from the stands. Pulling up his socks allegedly indicated the team would concede two goals, while raising a hand suggested at least one goal would be conceded.
The prosecution alleged that once the signals were observed, illegal bets would be placed immediately.
One match highlighted during the trial was a match on 30 October 2022 between Happy Valley and Central & Western. The court heard that members of the group discussed the planned signals before kickoff. Srivastava testified that if no signal appeared within five to ten minutes of the start of the match, he would simply leave the ground.
The ICAC’s investigation uncovered bets on over 30 matches involving Happy Valley and Central & Western by the defendants, totalling several tens of thousands of dollars.
Judge Yu ultimately found sufficient evidence to convict Fok, Mohammad, and Luciano of conspiracy to cheat in betting.
Defence argued group chats were casual football discussions
Defence lawyers argued throughout the trial that the WhatsApp groups were informal chat groups where members discussed football, betting tips, overseas matches, and everyday topics rather than coordinated criminal activity.
Fok’s lawyer contended that the conversations lacked criminal intent and argued that Fok frequently gave notoriously poor betting tips — referred to in Cantonese slang as “cyanide tips” — that caused members of the group to lose money. The defence argued this demonstrated that Fok had no genuine control over football results.
Lawyers representing Luciano argued that his comments about betting odds and football predictions were merely attempts to “fit in” socially with the group due to peer pressure rather than evidence of participation in match-fixing.
The defence also sought to challenge the legal basis of the conspiracy charges, arguing that prosecutors had failed to establish where the gambling activities physically took place, where bets were accepted, or how payments were handled. Counsel for Fok argued that if betting platforms were operated outside Hong Kong, the case could potentially fall outside the jurisdiction of Hong Kong courts.
The court ultimately rejected those arguments.
To Chun-kiu portrayed as outsider to alleged scheme
Although Fok, Luciano and Mohammad were convicted, former goalkeeper To Chun-kiu was acquitted.
To Chun-kiu (Credit: InmediaHK)
During cross-examination, defence counsel emphasized that To was largely inactive within the WhatsApp group and did not participate in discussions involving match-fixing signals or manipulation plans.
Srivastava agreed under questioning that To rarely contributed to conversations in the WhatsApp group and that their private exchanges were limited mainly to ordinary football betting discussions.
The defence highlighted one August 2022 message in which Srivastava asked Fok whether To required “signals” during matches. Fok replied that he did not, because To played in “big games” — understood to mean Hong Kong Premier League matches rather than the lower-division fixtures where the alleged signaling system was said to operate.
Srivastava agreed that discussions surrounding signals were primarily connected to Hong Kong First Division matches and not the Premier League games in which To participated.
Defense counsel also pointed out that To left Hong Kong for Japan in January 2023 and remained there for several months. Message records shown in court indicated To informed Srivastava in March 2023 that he was still in Japan.
Srivastava conceded it was possible he had forgotten To was overseas during part of the alleged conspiracy period when he initially gave statements to the ICAC.
The defence successfully argued that while To bet on overseas football matches, he did not bet on Happy Valley fixtures, which formed the core of the prosecution’s allegations.
Under cross-examination, Srivastava ultimately agreed it was possible that To had been an “outsider” to any broader match-fixing scheme involving Happy Valley.
Judge Yu later acquitted To, ruling that the prosecution had failed to prove his involvement beyond reasonable doubt.
