SINGAPORE – A fugitive from Singapore, who is accused of crimes including forgery in Finland, managed to avoid jail time while living in Hungary, where he served as a state witness in match-fixing trials.
But Wilson Raj Perumal finally faced the music after he was convicted over human trafficking charges.
His hearing in May never made headlines in Budapest, but The Straits Times learnt that the 60-year-old was sentenced to 11 years’ jail.
He is appealing against his conviction and sentencing.
A spokesperson for the chief prosecutor’s office of Hajdu-Bihar county in Hungary confirmed the conviction.
“I would like to inform you that in May 2025, the Nyiregyhaza Regional Court issued a verdict convicting the defendant, which, however, has not entered into force.
“The prosecution took note of the verdict, but based on a defence appeal, the case will continue in second instance, and the Debrecen Regional Court of Appeal will make the decision,” said the spokesperson, who did not provide dates for the appeal hearing.
ST had previously reported that Wilson Raj was arrested in July 2020 after the authorities in Hungary launched a probe into his role in a human trafficking network.
According to police documents, he was investigated “for the crime of human trafficking committed by assisting several persons to cross the state border for the purpose of financial gain”.
He has been living in Hungary since 2012, where he provided expert testimony for match-fixing trials there.
Wilson Raj, who was once described as the king of match fixing – “kelong king”, in colloquial terms – was picked up on July 27, 2020, in Debrecen, Hungary’s second-largest city, outside the home of his former wife Bella Istenes.
Ms Istenes, 34, a Norwegian national, was arrested after returning from a trip to Sweden. She was released and is now believed to have returned to Norway with the couple’s four children.
Under Hungarian law, the penalty for human trafficking carries a jail term of between one and 20 years, depending on the severity of the crime and whether the people were trafficked for the purpose of sex or labour.
The Singapore Police Force (SPF) had tried to have Wilson Raj extradited to Singapore but were thwarted by European laws in 2014.
Finnish police arrested him in 2011 over match-fixing allegations
but later handed him over to the authorities in Hungary.
Finnish police told SPF then that they were “unable to accede” to the request to send the match-fixer back to Singapore, as they were “bound by European Union laws to return him to Hungary”.
