<p class="title">Three players' agents, a referee and a former lawyer were charged and detained in Belgium on Friday as a massive football fraud and match-fixing scandal widened.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Mogi Bayat, portrayed in the media as Belgium's most powerful sports agent, was charged with "money laundering," his lawyers said, after he appeared before a judge.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Bayat was detained pending his next hearing, as were fellow agents Dejan Veljkovic and Karim Mejjati, who were questioned this week as part of the operation targeting Belgium's football elite.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Former Anderlecht club lawyer Laurent Denis and referee Bart Vertenten were also charged and arrested overnight, according to the Belga news agency.</p>.<p class="bodytext">On Thursday, another referee, Sebastien Delferiere, was charged but was immediately released on parole.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Vertenten and Delferiere were suspended on Thursday with immediate effect by the Belgian Football Federation.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The charges against referees are part of a probe into suspected match-fixing by Veljkovic in a failed effort to save formerly top-tier KV Mechelen from relegation to the second division.</p>.<p class="bodytext">On Thursday, the judge charged five people in the match-fixing case, including the club's financial director.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Hearings before the judge were held throughout night.</p>.<p class="bodytext">At this stage, at least 17 suspects have been charged, according to French-language RTBF.</p>.<p class="bodytext">A total of 29 suspects were interrogated on Wednesday, the federal prosecutor's office said on Thursday.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Several, including former Anderlecht boss Herman Van Holsbeeck, were released without charges.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The operation led to a total of 60 police searches Wednesday, including the headquarters of leading clubs in the Belgian first division, with FC Bruges, Anderlecht, Standard Liege and Genk among them.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The huge operation took place simultaneously in Belgium and six other European countries, including France and Serbia, where an agent was arrested Thursday and awaits extradition.</p>
<p class="title">Three players' agents, a referee and a former lawyer were charged and detained in Belgium on Friday as a massive football fraud and match-fixing scandal widened.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Mogi Bayat, portrayed in the media as Belgium's most powerful sports agent, was charged with "money laundering," his lawyers said, after he appeared before a judge.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Bayat was detained pending his next hearing, as were fellow agents Dejan Veljkovic and Karim Mejjati, who were questioned this week as part of the operation targeting Belgium's football elite.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Former Anderlecht club lawyer Laurent Denis and referee Bart Vertenten were also charged and arrested overnight, according to the Belga news agency.</p>.<p class="bodytext">On Thursday, another referee, Sebastien Delferiere, was charged but was immediately released on parole.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Vertenten and Delferiere were suspended on Thursday with immediate effect by the Belgian Football Federation.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The charges against referees are part of a probe into suspected match-fixing by Veljkovic in a failed effort to save formerly top-tier KV Mechelen from relegation to the second division.</p>.<p class="bodytext">On Thursday, the judge charged five people in the match-fixing case, including the club's financial director.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Hearings before the judge were held throughout night.</p>.<p class="bodytext">At this stage, at least 17 suspects have been charged, according to French-language RTBF.</p>.<p class="bodytext">A total of 29 suspects were interrogated on Wednesday, the federal prosecutor's office said on Thursday.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Several, including former Anderlecht boss Herman Van Holsbeeck, were released without charges.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The operation led to a total of 60 police searches Wednesday, including the headquarters of leading clubs in the Belgian first division, with FC Bruges, Anderlecht, Standard Liege and Genk among them.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The huge operation took place simultaneously in Belgium and six other European countries, including France and Serbia, where an agent was arrested Thursday and awaits extradition.</p>