Cricket betting scam 'mastermind' among three arrested in London

The new probe centres on alleged money laundering. One of the people arrested was cricket agent Mazhar Majeed, the alleged mastermind behind illegal betting at the Lord's test between Pakistan and England. The other two are a 35-year-old woman from Croydon, believed to be Sheliza Manji, the wife of Majeed, and a 49-year-old man from Wembley.

The Met is already conducting an investigation into the match. Three Pakistani players were bought back to London to face questioning.

Majeed was already on police bail after being detained by Scotland Yard officers at the weekend on suspicion of fraud. All three were arrested on Sunday shortly after the scandal, which has stunned the cricketing world and led to calls for Pakistan's tour of England to be abandoned, became public.

Announcing the arrests, a spokeswoman for HM Revenue and Customs said: "Three individuals were arrested as part of an ongoing investigation into money laundering. These individuals have been bailed pending further investigation."

It is thought that the money laundering allegations involve one of the many business interests of Majeed, who is the "co-owner of Croydon Athletic FC, and his property developer wife. He has been registered as a director of 26 companies over the past 10 years, most of which were set up on the same day, although only three, including an ice cream parlour, are still operating. Majeed also has a £1.8 million home in Surrey and continues to operate as a property developer in Croydon.

The announcement of the new arrests came as detectives prepared to re-interview members of the Pakistan cricket team in connection with phone calls made by an alleged fixer at the centre of the corruption scandal exposed at the weekend.

It emerged that one player named in the Lord's scandal, wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal, is not under investigation by either the police or the cricketing authorities.

The remaining three — Salman Butt, Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif — have been summoned to London to meet the Pakistani High Commissioner and the Pakistan Cricket Board chairman to answer the allegations of bet fixing.

Earlier, Pakistan coach Waqar Younis said he will do all he can to focus his players in the wake of the allegations.

He said: "We will try to get the team up again and make sure that we deliver the best we can in the next few games, that's all I can do. There is no doubt it is a big challenge, but I will try to make the most of it and I'll try to make sure everybody is nicely focused on the games."

Scotland Yard fraud experts are examining phone calls made by Majeed, who was arrested after being caught on film by the News of the World apparently accepting large piles of banknotes — said to be £150,000.

The International Cricket Council is expected to take on a wider inquiry into claims that up to 80 matches could have been part of match-fixing betting scams involving more than £25 million.