FIFA to seek restitution in bribery case

Dec 23, 2017 - 12:18 AM World soccer's governing body FIFA says it is will seek compensation and a share of the cash illegally gained by two officials convicted in a bribery trial in New York.

A US federal court on Friday found former soccer officials Jose Maria Marin and Juan Angel Napout guilty in the first trial to take place in the FIFA corruption scandal.

FIFA said in a statement to The Associated Press that "as the jury has found a number of defendants guilty of the charged crimes, FIFA will now take all necessary steps to seek restitution and recover any losses caused by their misconduct."

More than $200 million is due to be forfeited by people and marketing agencies implicated in the wider case.

Napout, the former top official of South America's soccer federation (CONMBEOL), was found guilty of accepting $10.5 million in bribes since 2010, news reports said.

He was found guilty on three counts, including racketeering conspiracy and wire fraud conspiracy. He was cleared on two counts of money laundering conspiracy.

Marin, the former top soccer official of Brazil, was convicted of accepting $6.55 million.

He was found guilty of six counts, including racketeering conspiracy, wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy. The jury cleared him on the one count of money laundering conspiracy.

Both accepted the bribes in the awarding of television rights.

Marin and Napout were among more than 40 people in the world of global soccer arrested in 2015 who faced criminal charges in the US in connection with what prosecutors said were schemes involving hundreds of millions of dollars in bribes and kickbacks linked to soccer tournaments.

Many of the other defendants pleaded guilty.

The jury hearing the case in Brooklyn did not reach a verdict on a third former official, Peru Football Association chief Manuel Burga, who was charged with one count of racketeering conspiracy, and will continue deliberations next week.

A former boss of an Argentine sports marketing company testified as the star witness.

Alejandro Burzaco had pleaded guilty on several counts in hopes his testimony would result in a milder sentence.

Source: AAP