FIFA corruption scandal: Swiss prosecutors probing 53 ‘suspicious’ banking transactions
SWISS prosecutors are investigating 53 cases of possible money
laundering as they look into FIFA’s handling of bids for the 2018 and
2022 World Cups, officials said Wednesday.
Attorney general Michael Lauber said the “suspicious” cases had
been reported by banks and that a “huge and complex” inquiry into
football’s world body could take months if not years.
Officials said the 53 are individuals and companies and that each case could involve many more transactions.
“We
note positively that banks in Switzerland did fulfil their duties to
file suspicious activity reports,” he told a press conference.
“Partly
in addition to the 104 banking relations already known to the
authorities, banks announced 53 suspicious banking relations via the
Anti-Money-Laundering-Framework of Switzerland,” he added.
Swiss authorities have set up a special task force to look into the
World Cup bids — which went to Russia for 2018 and Qatar in 2022.
It
is one of two major fraud investigations that have rocked FIFA. US
authorities last month charged 14 people in a separate bribery
investigation. Julius Baer, which the US indictments listed among 26
banks through which the illegal transfers allegedly passed, said
Wednesday tha it had “launched an internal investigation”.
In a statement sent to AFP, the bank said it was “cooperating with the authorities”.
Lauber
meanwhile said he “does not exclude” questioning FIFA boss Joseph
Blatter or general secretary Jerome Valcke, although neither is
currently under suspicion.
He said nine terrabytes of data had been seized, including at FIFA’s Zurich headquarters and the probe would take time.
“The
world of football needs to be patient ... by its nature, this
investigation will take more than the legendary ‘90 minutes’,” that a
football match takes, said Lauber, who has just been re-elected for a
four-year mandate.
FIFA told AFP Wednesday that Quinn Emanuel, the
world’s largest business litigation and arbitration law firm, was
representing the football world body.
Jenny Durkan, a top US
lawyer who has previously served as the state attorney for the western
district of Washington, is part of the defence team, a FIFA spokesperson
said.
Lauber said he did not feel under pressure with the next World Cup in Russia just three years away.
“I don’t care about the timetable of FIFA, I care about my timetable,” he said in response to a question.
Senior
FIFA official Domenico Scala has said there could be a revote for the
2018 and 2022 World Cups if there was evidence of wrongdoing in the
bidding process.
FIFA, never far from controversy, is facing its
biggest crisis because of the two corruption inquiries. Four days after
being elected to a fifth term on May 30, Blatter announced that he would
resign.
Sepp Blatter announces Qatar as hosts of the 2022 World Cup in December 2010.
Source: Getty Images
US authorities have charged 14 people from North and South
America accused of involvement in more than $150 million of bribes for
football deals.
Seven FIFA officials were detained at a luxury
Zurich hotel as part the inquiry on May 27. They are now fighting
extradition to the United States.
The European parliament has
called on Blatter to quit immediately and allow for an interim leader to
launch reforms in the organisation.
But FIFA has repeated that
the 79-year-old Swiss will continue in office until a successor is
designated, probably by the end of the year.
The FIFA Executive Committee will meet in Zurich on July 20 to fix a date for the congress to elect Blatter’s successor.
The vote will not be before December.
The
scandal-plagued body has lost several prestigious partnerships
following the scandal, losing the support of key names such as Nobel
Peace Centre and Interpol.
The Interpol deal was a 10-year
partnership with FIFA worth 20 million euros ($22 million) for its
“Integrity in Sport programme.”
High-profile sponsors including
Coca-Cola, Adidas, Visa, McDonald’s and Hyundai — have welcomed
Blatter’s announcement that he would resign and called for FIFA to
embark on serious reforms.
Originally published as FIFA probed over 53 ‘suspicious’ transactions
