In what can only be termed a stunning announcement, earlier this week, a 47-count indictment was unsealed in a federal court in Brooklyn, charging 14 defendants in connection with their participation in a 24-year scheme to enrich themselves through the corruption of international soccer. All of the defendants were associated with the governing body of international soccer, the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA). After the indictments were unsealed the Swiss police conducted an early-morning operation in Zurich, arresting several FIFA officials and extradited them to the United States on federal corruption charges. The charges included those under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, wire fraud, money laundering, bribery, and tax evasion.
Interestingly, only one of the defendants is a U.S. citizen, and that person, Chuck Blazer, was a cooperating witness for U.S. government. Yet the indictments were brought in the United States because many of the charges against the suspects related to plots allegedly taking place on American soil. There were bribery and corruption schemes plotted and hatched in the United States, with payment made through the U.S. banking system. There was also the use of telephones and computers in the United States. All of these contacts led U.S. officials to assert jurisdiction over the defendants. The RICO claim is critical because once a criminal enterprise is established, it provides U.S. jurisdiction to all who acted to further the conspiracy, even if such acts were outside the United States. FIFA also refused to police itself or even release the internal report prepared by Michael Garcia over allegations of corruption around selection of the 2018 World Cup site in Russia and the 2022 World Cup site in Qatar.
