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NYT Exclusive: Top FIFA officials (but not Blatter) indicted, face extradition to U.S.
Posted on 5/26/15 at 11:07 pm
Posted on 5/26/15 at 11:07 pm
Some late night breaking news for everyone. It's a start, and it *could* shake things up in time for the election.
LINK
ETA: Leftover homemade ice cream from the weekend.
quote:
ZURICH — Swiss authorities began an extraordinary early-morning operation here Wednesday to arrest several top soccer officials and extradite them to the United States on federal corruption charges.
As leaders of FIFA, soccer’s global governing body, gathered for their annual meeting, Swiss law enforcement officials arrived unannounced at the Baur au Lac hotel, an elegant five-star property with views of the Alps and Lake Zurich. The arrests were made at the request of the United States Justice Department, which brought charges in the Eastern District of New York, based in Brooklyn, according to law enforcement officials.
Prosecutors planned to unseal an indictment soon against more than 10 officials, not all of whom are in Zurich, three law enforcement officials said. The charges include wire fraud, racketeering and money laundering.
The arrests were a startling blow to FIFA, a multibillion-dollar organization that governs the world’s most popular sport but has been plagued by accusations of bribery for decades.
The inquiry is also a major threat to Sepp Blatter, FIFA’s longtime president who is generally recognized as the most powerful person in sports, though law enforcement officials said he was not charged. An election, seemingly pre-ordained to give him a fifth term as president, is scheduled for Friday.
The case is the most significant yet for United States Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch, who took office last month. She previously served as the United States attorney in Brooklyn, where she supervised the FIFA investigation.
With more than $1.5 billion in reserves, FIFA is as much a global financial conglomerate as a sports organization. With countries around the world competing aggressively to win the bid to host the World Cup, Mr. Blatter has commanded the fealty of anyone who wanted a piece of that revenue stream. He and FIFA have weathered corruption controversies in the past, but none involved charges of federal crimes in a United States court.
United States law gives the Justice Department wide authority to bring cases against foreign nationals living abroad, an authority that prosecutors have used repeatedly in international terrorism cases. Those cases can hinge on the slightest connection to the United States, like the use of an American bank or Internet service provider.
Switzerland’s treaty with the United States is unusual in that it gives Swiss authorities the power to refuse extradition for tax crimes, but on matters of general criminal law, the Swiss have agreed to turn people over for prosecution in American courts.
The case further mars the reputation of FIFA’s leader, Mr. Blatter, who has for years acted as a de facto head of state. Politicians, star players, national soccer officials and global corporations that want their brands attached to the sport have long genuflected before him.
Critics of FIFA point to the lack of transparency regarding executive salaries and resource allocations for an organization that, by its own admission, had revenue of $5.7 billion from 2011 to 2014. Policy decisions are also often taken without debate or explanation, and a small group of officials — known as the executive committee — operates with outsize power. FIFA has for years operated with little oversight and even less transparency. Alexandra Wrage, a governance consultant who once unsuccessfully attempted to help overhaul FIFA’s methods, famously labeled the organization “byzantine and impenetrable.”
LINK
ETA: Leftover homemade ice cream from the weekend.
This post was edited on 5/26/15 at 11:12 pm
Posted on 5/26/15 at 11:12 pm to WarSlamEagle
It's going down. I'm yelling TIMBER
Posted on 5/26/15 at 11:13 pm to WarSlamEagle
you bribe foreign officials (of non-white origin) to steal out world cup? well then you will face the wrath of the craziest prosecutorial district in the US federal court system. i believe that district is also the one that led the DOJ war against online poker
This post was edited on 5/26/15 at 11:16 pm
Posted on 5/26/15 at 11:21 pm to SlowFlowPro
Swiss Plain clothes showing documents to the hotel clerk
Posted on 5/26/15 at 11:27 pm to WarSlamEagle
And here come the Americans to save the rest of the world from an evil and tyrannical group again.
Posted on 5/26/15 at 11:28 pm to Xenophon
my initial reaction was to cheer, but in all honesty this probably will piss me off
Posted on 5/26/15 at 11:30 pm to SlowFlowPro
Go on...(for the legally ignorant)
Posted on 5/26/15 at 11:30 pm to WarSlamEagle
Whoa. Go get 'em Loretta.
String cheese and LaCroix
String cheese and LaCroix
Posted on 5/26/15 at 11:30 pm to SlowFlowPro
We are going to get fricked so hard by the refs in the Gold Cup.
Posted on 5/26/15 at 11:35 pm to glassman
Names starting to come out.
quote:
Prosecutors planned to unseal an indictment against more than 10 officials, not all of whom are in Zurich, law enforcement officials said. Among them are Jeffrey Webb of the Cayman Islands, a vice president of the executive committee; Eugenio Figueredo of Uruguay, who is also an executive committee vice president and until recently was the president of South America’s soccer association; and Jack Warner of Trinidad and Tobago, a former member of the executive committee who has been accused of numerous ethical violations.
Posted on 5/26/15 at 11:39 pm to crazy4lsu
odds are that this is going to be some major reach or over-extended banking law and the people really didn't violate legitimate US law
federal law in the US is so expansive we can't even keep track of it anymore. the average adult commits 3 felonies a day, etc.
federal law in the US is so expansive we can't even keep track of it anymore. the average adult commits 3 felonies a day, etc.
Posted on 5/26/15 at 11:45 pm to lsu31always
Glad Webb is one of the dudes busted... He's been in Blatter's arse for years.
Posted on 5/26/15 at 11:46 pm to lsu31always
I haven't seen Jack Warner's name in a hot minute.
Posted on 5/26/15 at 11:53 pm to WarSlamEagle
quote:
Sepp Blatter, FIFA’s longtime president who is generally recognized as the most powerful person in sports, though law enforcement officials said he was not charged
Posted on 5/27/15 at 12:00 am to WarSlamEagle
Webb is the biggest get. Or at least that's the impression I get from this article. Long but well worth the read, especially with this new turn of events.
LINK
LINK
Posted on 5/27/15 at 12:02 am to WarSlamEagle
Everyone upset over Blatter not getting arrested but at least one or two (if not more) of these dudes is gonna try to snitch on Blatter, blee dat.
Cheese quesadilla and a bottle of Nestle orange flavored water.
Cheese quesadilla and a bottle of Nestle orange flavored water.
Posted on 5/27/15 at 12:03 am to SlowFlowPro
Gonna be the footy version of the Nuremberg Trials
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