Banks in Switzerland have reported 53 possible acts of money-laundering in the investigation of FIFA’s 2018 and 2022 World Cup bidding contests, the country’s attorney-general said.
Michael lauber (in pic) said the “suspicious bank relations” were filed to comply with Switzerland’s regulations against money laundering.
The federal prosecutor described a “huge and complex” case which targets “criminal mismanagement and money-laundering” in the bidding contests for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups..
lauber is prepared for either country to be stripped of the hosting rights if new evidence proves wrongdoing. “I don’t mind if this has some collateral (damage) somewhere else,” he said, addressing the media for the first time since the Swiss investigation into FIFA was announced three weeks ago.
lauber said he “does not exclude” interviewing FIFA President Sepp Blatter and secretary-general Jerome Valcke in the future, though they are not currently under suspicion.
Blatter is also a target of a separate investigation of bribery and racketeering led by US federal agencies, who are working with Swiss authorities.
The American case alleged that senior FIFA voters received $10 million in bribes to support South Africa’s successful bid for the 2010 World Cup. Valcke has been linked to transferring the money from a FIFA account on behalf of South Africa.
FIFA began the 2018 and 2022 case by filing a criminal complaint against “persons unknown” last November. “This is a dynamic process,” lauber said. “It could really go everywhere and that is why I don’t want to tell you which direction I put my focus.”
lauber, who led units specialising in organised crime in Switzerland and money laundering in liechtenstein, said on Wednesday that his task force is analyzing nine terabytes of data.
Some of the 53 suspicious transactions are among 104 incidents previously notified to Swiss and American federal authorities, he said.
lauber’s team has also pursued a line of inquiry into payments linked to a friendly match between Argentina and Brazil played in Doha two weeks before the FIFA vote. Both countries had long-serving delegates on FIFA’s executive committee.
Qatar paid $1.8m to make bid
Paris: Qatar paid the African Football Confederation $1.8 million to present its bid for the 2022 World Cup at a congress, the continent’s top football official told a French magazine.
CAF president and FIFA vice president Issa Hayatou said he saw nothing wrong with the payment made before the confederation held a congress in the Angolan capital luanda in January 2010. Paris-based Jeune Afrique magazine asked Hayatou about the donation from Qatar. “It was $1.8 million, not one million. Paid in two times 900,000 dollars,” the controversial AFC chief replied.
“The Qataris gave it to us to be able to show their plan (for the 2022 World Cup) during the congress.” Hayatou insisted he had not expected other candidates, including the United States and Australia, to pay for a similar privilege. “Not necessarily. We didn’t ask Qatar to do it. They proposed it. We did not ban the other candidates from taking part in the presentation,” he said, while also denying that it was a bid to buy African votes.