Business Crimes Hotline

NEW YORK

Another Round of FIFA Indictments

On Dec. 4, 2015, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that 16 additional FIFA officials have been implicated in the widespread, 24-year soccer corruption scandal. Each of the defendants ' charged with Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) conspiracy, wire fraud conspiracy, wire fraud, money laundering conspiracy, money laundering, and obstruction of justice ' faces a maximum term of 20 years in prison, restitution, forfeiture, and fines.

These new charges greatly expand the scope of the original international investigation, which focuses on 27 soccer officials in South and Central America and the Caribbean who are accused of facilitating more than $200 million in bribes to win media and marketing rights for major tournaments. The corrupt payments began in 1991 and, according to the superseding indictment, ongoing payments relate to tournaments extending as far out as the 2022 World Cup qualifiers. The multi-year investigation has also traced payments to forty countries and prompted the resignation of FIFA President Sepp Blatter, and the suspensions of FIFA Secretary-General J'r'me Valcke and the head of European soccer, Michel Platini.

Of the new defendants named in the superseding 92-count indictment, which was unsealed in the Eastern District of New York, several are some of the highest-ranking officials in the sport. Two FIFA officials, Hawit and Napout, were taken into custody after a sweep at their Swiss hotel, the same location where several FIFA officials were previously arrested in May. Among the newly indicted, Hector Trujillo, the general secretary of the Guatemalan soccer federation and a judge on the Constitutional Court of Guatemala, was arrested by the FBI after his cruise ship docked in Florida on Dec. 3. Moreover, at least one former FIFA official (Hawit) is suspected of engaging a co-conspirator to establish sham contracts to conceal bribe payments even after his indictment in May.

In the same statement, the DOJ also announced that eight of the defendants originally arrested in May have pleaded guilty and agreed to forfeit more than $40 million. All money forfeited by the defendants is being held in reserve to ensure that any ordered restitution by entities or individuals at sentencing can be satisfied.

The indictments come in the wake of a major FIFA structural overhaul, including the implementation of term limits and integrity checks for officials, and stripping the executive committee of its organizational responsibilities in favor of becoming a 36-member FIFA Council.

Attorney General Lynch promised continuous DOJ and international action: “The message from this announcement should be clear to every culpable individual who remains in the shadows, hoping to evade our investigation: You will not wait us out. You will not escape our focus.” In response to recent DOJ initiatives, a FIFA spokesperson stated that “FIFA will continue to cooperate fully with the U.S. investigations as permitted by Swiss law, as well as with the investigation being led by the Swiss Office of Attorney General.” Two soccer associations ' Concacaf (headquartered in the United States) and Conmebol (headquartered in South America) ' have also pledged continued cooperation in what has become one of the most complex investigations to date.

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NEW YORK

Another Round of FIFA Indictments

On Dec. 4, 2015, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that 16 additional FIFA officials have been implicated in the widespread, 24-year soccer corruption scandal. Each of the defendants ' charged with Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) conspiracy, wire fraud conspiracy, wire fraud, money laundering conspiracy, money laundering, and obstruction of justice ' faces a maximum term of 20 years in prison, restitution, forfeiture, and fines.

These new charges greatly expand the scope of the original international investigation, which focuses on 27 soccer officials in South and Central America and the Caribbean who are accused of facilitating more than $200 million in bribes to win media and marketing rights for major tournaments. The corrupt payments began in 1991 and, according to the superseding indictment, ongoing payments relate to tournaments extending as far out as the 2022 World Cup qualifiers. The multi-year investigation has also traced payments to forty countries and prompted the resignation of FIFA President Sepp Blatter, and the suspensions of FIFA Secretary-General J'r'me Valcke and the head of European soccer, Michel Platini.

Of the new defendants named in the superseding 92-count indictment, which was unsealed in the Eastern District of New York, several are some of the highest-ranking officials in the sport. Two FIFA officials, Hawit and Napout, were taken into custody after a sweep at their Swiss hotel, the same location where several FIFA officials were previously arrested in May. Among the newly indicted, Hector Trujillo, the general secretary of the Guatemalan soccer federation and a judge on the Constitutional Court of Guatemala, was arrested by the FBI after his cruise ship docked in Florida on Dec. 3. Moreover, at least one former FIFA official (Hawit) is suspected of engaging a co-conspirator to establish sham contracts to conceal bribe payments even after his indictment in May.

In the same statement, the DOJ also announced that eight of the defendants originally arrested in May have pleaded guilty and agreed to forfeit more than $40 million. All money forfeited by the defendants is being held in reserve to ensure that any ordered restitution by entities or individuals at sentencing can be satisfied.

The indictments come in the wake of a major FIFA structural overhaul, including the implementation of term limits and integrity checks for officials, and stripping the executive committee of its organizational responsibilities in favor of becoming a 36-member FIFA Council.

Attorney General Lynch promised continuous DOJ and international action: “The message from this announcement should be clear to every culpable individual who remains in the shadows, hoping to evade our investigation: You will not wait us out. You will not escape our focus.” In response to recent DOJ initiatives, a FIFA spokesperson stated that “FIFA will continue to cooperate fully with the U.S. investigations as permitted by Swiss law, as well as with the investigation being led by the Swiss Office of Attorney General.” Two soccer associations ' Concacaf (headquartered in the United States) and Conmebol (headquartered in South America) ' have also pledged continued cooperation in what has become one of the most complex investigations to date.

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