SYDNEY (AFP) — Australian champion jockey Chris Munce, imprisoned in Hong Kong over a tips-for-bets scandal, is likely to serve out the rest of his jail term back home, a government spokesman said Saturday.
Under a deal awaiting final approval by the government, Munce would be transferred to a minimum security prison in Sydney, said a spokesman for the attorney general in New South Wales state.
The family of the disgraced jockey, who rode Jezabeel to Melbourne Cup glory in 1998, have raised 10,000 Australian dollars (8,200 US) to pay for prison officers to escort him back to Australia, he said.
"What we are waiting for is final confirmation that the Hong Kong authorities are happy," the spokesman said. "As soon as that occurs, we are able to send our officers over to Hong Kong to escort him back."
Authorities in Hong Kong declined to comment on the case.
Shivers went through the international racing world when Munce was awarded 30 months behind bars in March after being convicted of trading race tips for bets placed on his behalf by a businessman.
He was arrested with 250,000 Hong Kong dollars (32,000 US) in his pockets and a paper of notations allegedly relating to bets on races, but some insiders said he would not have ended up in jail if the case had happened in Australia.
Hong Kong's South China Morning Post said Munce's wife and three children were now under financial stress due to the loss of his income and a legal bill estimated at 4.5 million Hong Kong dollars.
Meanwhile Hong Kong's Jockey Club still wants access to Munce before he leaves the southern Chinese city, in order to interview him for their own inquiry, which has been on hold since he was arrested last year.
If found guilty of betting offences under the Jockey Club's rules, Munce could face disqualification for two to five years, with the ban effective worldwide, the paper said.
Although it was still unclear what type of prison Munce would be housed in if he is returned to Australia, the spokesman said it would be normal for him to be in a minimum security prison.
The acclaimed jockey, who has also won two of Sydney's prestigious Golden Slipper races, was charged for handing out information on the horses he rode and their likelihood of winning in return for bets being placed on them.
Munce circumvented the ban on jockeys placing bets by approaching a local businessman, Dinesh Daswani, who acted as a go-between to pass information to an elderly Hong Kong businessman named Andy Lau.
Lau placed individual bets of up to 20,000 Hong Kong dollars on the jockey's behalf. When the horse won, Munce would get most of the winnings, minus a cut for the middleman and the initial stake. Lau absorbed the losses.
The three cashed in on 18 races Munce won between December 2005 and July 2006. With a tips success rate of 72 percent, they collected hundreds of thousands of dollars.
After Munce was arrested, Daswani turned evidence in return for immunity.
Copyright © 2009 AFP. All rights reserved. More »
