Ante Sapina: the Croatian was regarded as the mastermind and central figure of the 2005 betting scandal. Operating out of the Berlin café King with the help of his brothers, he manipulated football matches in Germany and across Europe. Robert Hoyzer was one of his helpers.\n\nBad luck for Sapina: Hoyzer’s exposure led directly to his own, and in 2005 he was convicted in Berlin for fraud and sentenced to two years and eleven months in prison.
The Federal Court of Justice upheld the verdict in 2006. Released in July 2008, Sapina later agreed in a civil case to repay 1.8 million euros in illegitimate winnings to the Berlin state lottery. None of that diminished the image damage Paderborn suffered from his scheme.