Jan.26, 2010

A STOCKTON man is one of four arrested over allegations of money laundering linked to lottery funding for a recently-invented sport.

North Yorkshire Police said four men were arrested on suspicion of money laundering relating to grant funding for Rock-It-Ball.

The allegations relate to the obtaining of grants from the National Lottery Awards for All scheme.

The four men are a 50-year-old from York, a 52-year-old from Stockton, a 67-year-old from Northallerton and a 57-year-old from Malton.

The Gazette understands two of the sport’s founders Paul Hildreth and Paul Law are among those arrested.

Described as a “mix of lacrosse and dodgeball”, the sport was invented in 2005. It is played with a Rock-it - a control bar with a thrower and catcher on each end - and the aim is to dodge or catch the ball. Governing body the International Rock-It-Ball Federation is seeking to achieve Olympic recognition for the sport.

Rock-It-Ball has proved a hit on Teesside, with the inaugural Rock-It- Ball world championships held in Thornaby in 2007.

A spokesman for Awards For All said: “We are continuing to liaise with the police in North Yorkshire in their ongoing investigation. We are unable to comment further at this stage.”

The four men have been bailed to February pending an investigation.

Rock-It-Ball Company is based in Marishes, near Malton, North Yorkshire. The company was reported as saying: “We do not accept that we have done anything wrong and will defend ourselves as vigorously as possible against these totally unfounded allegations.”