The Banqiao District Prosecutors Office raided lockers, dorms and homes of six players on the Elephants team yesterday, plus three witnesses as well on underground betting bookies around the country.

The prosecutors also issued summonses to 17 people, including the baseball players, for questioning in connection with the investigation.

The latest investigative action is believed to have been taken now on concern that some players who returned for the season could leave the country again as the 2009 season officially concluded on Sunday.

All the players involved in the case vehemently denied the allegation for possible foul play.

The main focus of the probe, which covers the alleged fixing of games in Taiwan's Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) from May to September, is an underground bookie with the family name of Tsai, who goes by the nickname “Windshield Wiper.”

Prosecutors believe Tsai enticed players to throw games or manipulate the final score in ways to help the bookie's syndicate cash in on illicit bets.

According to evidence collected by the Taipei branch of the Ministry of Justice's Investigation Bureau, the players rigged games in a number of ways, including throwing easy pitches to hit, walking batters, purposely committing fumbles or deliberately striking out.

Once the gambling syndicate run by Tsai cashed in on its bets as a result of the players' actions, it would then pay off the players through intermediaries, the Investigation Bureau believes.

Though the investigation has been underway for a while, prosecutors wanted to wait for the league's showcase, the best-of-seven Taiwan Series, to conclude before summoning persons of interest for questioning and conducting raids.

The Taiwan Series ended Sunday, with the Uni-President Lions defeating the Brother Elephants 5-2 in Game 7 to win its third consecutive CPBL title.

Though the seven-game series is not within the scope of the investigation, at least six Elephants players have been implicated in the case.

Elephants general manager Hung Rei-ho confirmed that searches had been conducted on the dorm rooms or residences of six of the team's players -- pitchers Tsao Chin-hui, Liu Yu-chan, Wu Bau-hsien, Wang Chin-li, Li Hao-jen and catcher Wang Chun-tai. The six players will also report to the prosecutors office for questioning.

Tsao, the first Taiwanese pitcher to ever compete in the U.S. Major Leagues, became particularly agitated at one point over the issue, according to Hung.

In a statement, Tsao insisted that he was clean. He felt that after fighting repeated arm injuries and pressure he was perplexed over being searched and wrongly implicated in the case.

“After playing overseas for nine years, there were still some overseas teams that I could have joined, but I decided to come home, expecting to continue fighting and contributing in front of my family and friends,” Tsao said.

“Little did I expect that after my teammates and I played hard for a full season that I would be summoned for questioning about a controversy I know nothing about. I feel angry and disappointed.”

He wondered in the statement if, after being caught up in allegations that had yet to be substantiated with proof, he had made the right choice to play in Taiwan this year.

Hung, who vowed last year during a similar game-fixing scandal to disband his team if any of his players were involving in gambling and game fixing, said he chose to believe his players' professions of innocence, pending the results of the investigation.

The CPBL also issued a statement expressing regret over the latest probe. It urged prosecutors to wrap up the investigation based on solid evidence as early as possible to avoid further damage to the league and the sport in Taiwan.

The league is still in the process of nurturing itself back to health after a series of scams in recent years.