U.S. Department of Justice vs. FIFA: Zurich in Flames, Indictments For All

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Debate & Discussion > U.S. Department of Justice vs. FIFA: Zurich in Flames, Indictments For All

Vincent Van Goatse: Nov 8, 2006; Enjoy every sandwich.; Smellrose

After years of trying, it looks like America is finally very interested in soccer. Or at least the multi-million dollar bribes that FIFA arranged on U.S. soil using U.S. banks. Oops.

The Wall Street Journal posted:

U.S. Prepares Criminal Indictment Alleging Corruption at Soccer Body FIFA
By Aruna Viswanatha And Christopher M. Matthews

U.S. authorities are preparing to unveil a criminal indictment against officials of soccer�s international governing body that will detail allegations of widespread corruption, according to people familiar with the matter.

The indictment against officials of the International Federation of Association Football, known as FIFA, was expected to be unsealed in Brooklyn federal court against multiple individuals as early as Wednesday, the people said.

Early Wednesday morning six soccer officials were arrested in Zurich, Switzerland, the country�s Federal Office of Justice said in a statement, adding that they had been detained pending extradition. The FOJ said the arrest warrants were issued after a request by U.S. authorities, which suspect them of having received bribes totaling millions of dollars.

Swiss authorities entered the Baur au Lac Hotel in Zurich, where senior FIFA officials are staying ahead of the governing body�s annual meeting. Shortly afterward at least one individual was escorted out of a side entrance of the hotel.

Several miles across town, authorities were gearing up to raid FIFA�s offices, according to a person familiar with the matter.

As many as 12 officials were expected to be arrested, the person said.

A FIFA spokesman couldn�t immediately be reached for comment.

Prosecutors expect to announce the case at a news conference at the Brooklyn U.S. attorney�s office, which is leading the investigation. U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch, Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey and Internal Revenue Service criminal chief Richard Weber are expected to appear in Brooklyn to announce the case, the people said.

The indictment is likely to roil the governing body of the world�s most popular sport, which has been dogged by allegations of corruption and bribery for years.

The development comes less than 72 hours before the organization�s annual congress in Zurich where FIFA is expected to elect Joseph �Sepp� Blatter to a fifth consecutive term as president. Mr. Blatter, a 79-year-old former watch company executive, has presided over FIFA, the nonprofit custodian and organizer of the World Cup, since 1998.

Mr. Blatter has overseen the World Cup�s growth into a quadrennial cash cow for Switzerland-based FIFA through the shrewd sale of television and marketing rights. As of 2014, its cash reserves stood at $1.52 billion. During the 2011-14 cycle, it generated $5.72 billion of revenue, according to FIFA�s most recently published financial results, the most in its history.

The organization has faced controversy in recent years. There have been allegations of bribery surrounding the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, a high-profile lawsuit by MasterCard in New York federal court and the ousting of at least eight members of FIFA�s executive committee, along with public-relations faux pas on topics from fan racism to women�s soccer uniforms.

Brooklyn prosecutors and agents in the FBI�s New York field office have been investigating FIFA for years, according to the people familiar with the matter. Investigators reached a turning point in their probe in 2011 when an American member of the FIFA Executive Committee, Charles �Chuck� Blazer, began cooperating with them, one of the people said. Mr. Blazer, a Queens, N.Y., native, began providing FBI agents with information about alleged fraud and money laundering within FIFA�s ranks, according to the person.

Mr. Blazer, who from 1990 to 2011 was the general secretary of the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football, or Concacaf, agreed to record conversations with other FIFA executives after authorities threatened to bring tax evasion charges against him, the person said.

Mr. Blazer is gravely ill and couldn't be reached for comment.

In December 2010, FIFA�s executive committee voted to award the hosting rights for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups to Russia and Qatar, respectively. That decision is still controversial nearly five years later. At least eight of the members of that executive committee have since resigned or been removed from it.

Suspicions of vote-buying around the process grew so loud that FIFA appointed an independent investigator, former federal prosecutor Michael J. Garcia, to look into it. FIFA hasn't published Mr. Garcia�s report, which was completed last fall.

While it found some wrongdoing on the part of the Qatari and Russian bid committees, FIFA�s ethics judge concluded it wasn't enough to question the entire process.

Mr. Garcia subsequently resigned from his role as investigator in December to protest the organization�s handling of his report.

Ahead of the controversial vote for the 2018 and 2022 World Cup, Mr. Blazer, who is 70, publicly expressed support for Russia�s bid to host. In the run-up to the 2011 election for FIFA president he revealed that Mohamed bin Hammam of Qatar had offered leaders of football associations in the Caribbean thousands of dollars in brown envelopes, supposedly for soccer development projects when he met with them to seek support for the election. Mr. bin Hammam resigned his position as head of the Asia Football Confederation and was later barred from FIFA. He denied wrongdoing throughout FIFA�s investigations of him.

An investigation into Concacaf�s business dealings ordered by Concacaf itself and released in 2012 concluded that Mr. Blazer failed to file income tax statements and pay taxes on behalf of the organization and its marketing unit between 2004-10. In addition, the report revealed that Mr. Blazer defrauded the organization by filing false financial statements on the organization�s behalf and misappropriating funds.

The report, overseen by the law firm Sidley & Austin, stated that Mr. Blazer had the organization pay him more than $15 million in the form of commissions, fees, and rent expenses without obtaining proper authorization. It also said Mr. Blazer used Concacaf funds to finance his personal lifestyle including paying his rent on his residence in the Trump Tower in New York, purchasing apartments at the Mondrian, a luxury hotel and residence in Miami. He was suspended from FIFA, and resigned from the board in 2013. Mr. Blazer has said little publicly about FIFA matters since the controversy surrounding the 2011 FIFA election.

Don't know if this is D&Dworthy or not, but I guess y'all can talk about how loving hilariously corrupt and awful FIFA is, what with their eyes wide open involvement with literal slave labor in Qatar and elsewhere.

# ¿ May 27, 2015 08:02

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# ¿ May 10, 2024 16:07

Vincent Van Goatse: Nov 8, 2006; Enjoy every sandwich.; Smellrose

And here's the official Swiss Bureau of Justice statement:

quote:

By order of the Federal Office of Justice (FOJ), six soccer officials were arrested in Zurich today (Wednesday) and detained pending extradition. The US authorities suspect them of having received bribes totaling in the USD millions.

The six soccer functionaries were arrested today in Zurich by the Zurich Cantonal Police . The FOJ�s arrest warrants were issued further to a request by the US authorities. The US Attorney�s Office for the Eastern District of New York is investigating these individuals on suspicion of the acceptance of bribes and kick-backs between the early 1990s and the present day. The bribery suspects � representatives of sports media and sports promotion firms � are alleged to have been involved in schemes to make payments to the soccer functionaries � delegates of FIFA (F�d�ration Internationale de Football Association) and other functionaries of FIFA sub-organizations � totaling more than USD 100 million. In return, it is believed that they received media, marketing, and sponsorship rights in connection with soccer tournaments in Latin America. According to the US request, these crimes were agreed and prepared in the US, and payments were carried out via US banks.

Eight figure fraud on U.S. soil and it's doubtful any U.S. official saw a penny of it. Looks like FIFA tried to call the tune without paying the piper.

# ¿ May 27, 2015 08:07

Vincent Van Goatse: Nov 8, 2006; Enjoy every sandwich.; Smellrose

Business Gorillas posted:

Any reasons why they aren't going after European officials, or is this the first round and they're gonna wait for people to flip before we start extraditing European nationals?

It's just the preliminaries at this point. Once enough of these bastards roll (and since RICO is literally the law used to break Mafia crime families, they'll roll) the Euros will get their turn.

# ¿ May 27, 2015 23:08

Vincent Van Goatse: Nov 8, 2006; Enjoy every sandwich.; Smellrose

Despatcher posted:

Can they really secure a 30 year jail term in the states for a Football association president/representative from another nation? Seems unlikely.

They loving broke Mafia dons with RICO. Blatter's no Gambino.

# ¿ May 30, 2015 00:53

Vincent Van Goatse: Nov 8, 2006; Enjoy every sandwich.; Smellrose

Basically RICO is the nuclear option if the nuclear option was the planet-cracking superbomb from Beneath the Planet of the Apes.

The heavens declare the glory of the Bomb, and the firmament showeth His handiwork.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWPvKxSA7nw

Vincent Van Goatse fucked around with this message at 01:00 on May 30, 2015

# ¿ May 30, 2015 00:57

Vincent Van Goatse: Nov 8, 2006; Enjoy every sandwich.; Smellrose

Cythereal posted:

Crossposting from the sports subforum:

This is why you always pay your goddamned taxes, people.

# ¿ May 30, 2015 05:44

Vincent Van Goatse: Nov 8, 2006; Enjoy every sandwich.; Smellrose

axeil posted:

Okay now it's getting interesting. It's gonna be hilarious if FIFA somehow was propping up all the corrupt Caribbean countries. That's the USA's job!

RICO and treading on the Monroe Doctrine? That's a whoopin'.

# ¿ Jun 4, 2015 06:48

Vincent Van Goatse: Nov 8, 2006; Enjoy every sandwich.; Smellrose

GhostofJohnMuir posted:

On one hand, why would you need to rig the Trinidadian election? On the other hand, you could probably do it with a particularly high quality ham sandwich as the payment, so why not?

They signed a death warrant for thousands when they gave the 2022 Cup to Qatar, what's a bit of Caribbean election fraud compared to that?

# ¿ Jun 4, 2015 07:19

Vincent Van Goatse: Nov 8, 2006; Enjoy every sandwich.; Smellrose

Scaramouche posted:

Everyone seems to be ignoring the elephant in the room that is Big Quidditch in the form of the IQA:
http://www.iqaquidditch.org

*looks at Kramer briefly*

"So George..."

# ¿ Jun 8, 2015 10:21

Vincent Van Goatse: Nov 8, 2006; Enjoy every sandwich.; Smellrose

OhYeah posted:

A lot of quite wealthy people over the age of 50 have real trouble with anything remotely modern in technology.

My sixty-something PhD advisor had the worst typing skills I've ever seen. He was a full-on history professor so it's not like typing should have been something he was unfamiliar with, and yet... :stare:

# ¿ Jun 11, 2015 20:25

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# ¿ May 10, 2024 16:07

Vincent Van Goatse: Nov 8, 2006; Enjoy every sandwich.; Smellrose

SlipUp posted:

How can you keep a straight face banning a dude from the sport for 8 years and leaving him the loving presidency of the organization.

That's FIFA!

# ¿ Dec 21, 2015 19:31

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