Fraud in the News

FIFA red carded in federal indictment

According to The New York Times article, FIFA Inquiry Yields Indictments; U.S. Officials Vow to Pursue More, by Matt Apuzzo, Stephanie Clifford and Will K. Rashbaum on May 27, U.S. law enforcement officials declared in forceful terms that their broad investigation of FIFA had only begun and pledged to rid the international soccer organization of systemic corruption.

According to the article, the Justice Department, FBI and IRS said that top officials treated FIFA business decisions as chits to be traded for personal wealth. The article states that Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch said that one soccer official took in more than $10 million in bribes.

Swiss authorities, according to the article, working in conjunction with U.S. officials, conducted an extraordinary early-morning operation in Zurich on May 27 to arrest several top soccer officials and extradite them to the U.S. on federal corruption charges.

The charges, backed by an FBI investigation, allege widespread corruption in FIFA over the past two decades, involving bids for World Cups as well as marketing and broadcast deals.