An absolutely absurd betting scandal has been uncovered in India and we can probably go ahead and start planning the eventual movie now.
It involves a wildly popular cricket league, a fake Telegram channel, nearly pitch-perfect impersonators and a bunch of savvy farmers who might as well have been trained by the crew from Ocean’s 11.
According to Ashish Chauhan in The Times of India, a group of farmers in the Gujarat region were able to put together fake matches for the very real Indian Premier Cricket League. The “players” were given scripts to follow and the whole thing was broadcast on YouTube with commentators who sounded exactly like the IPL’s familiar voices. It all looked real enough that bettors in Russian cities were wagering on the fake action through Telegram channel the scammers set up.
From Chauhan:
All it took for the real-life con caper to be executed were 21 farm labourers and unemployed youths from the village, who took turns wearing jerseys of the Chennai Super Kings, Mumbai Indians and Gujarat Titans. They even did umpiring, flaunting a few walkie-talkies in front of five HD cameras. Crowd-noise sound effects downloaded from the internet made the ambience appear authentic to the audience sitting in Russia.
The ruse amazingly went on for two weeks before anyone who knew better caught on—and the farmers had made it all the way to the “knockout quarterfinals” before it was shut down.
Here it is, the moment you’ve all been waiting for….
Footage of the Fake IPL, which somehow conned people in Russia into betting on it.
‘Chennai Fighters’ off to a solid start, pitch looking in good condition. pic.twitter.com/XtaL5W5zli
— Jordan Elgott (@JElgott) July 11, 2022
More from Chauhan:
“Chief organiser” Shoeb Davda, who returned to Molipur after working for eight months in a Russian pub famous for taking bets, helped execute the con. “Shoeb hired the farm of Ghulam Masih and installed halogen there. He readied 21 farm labourers, promising them [400 Indian Rupee] per match. Next, he hired cameramen and bought t-shirts of IPL teams,” police official Bhavesh Rathod said.
Shoeb had an accomplice back in Russia who steered bettors towards the fake matches and helped facilitate the wagers. Once Shoeb accepted the action, he would radio the umpires with instructions on what should happen next in the match.
They had just hauled in 300,000 Indian Rupee (equivalent to $3,800 U.S. dollars) when the scheme fell apart.
The scammers were pretty easy to catch since, after all, the real IPL season ended three weeks before they launched their faux league. Police have already arrested four individuals involved.
Maybe they can still get a producer credit when their story inevitably makes it to Hollywood.
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