FIFA: Additional charges likely, says U.S. Attorney General

Loretta Lynch was speaking four months after 14 FIFA officials were charged with racketeering, wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy.

'Based upon new evidence, we anticipate pursuing additional charges against individuals and entities,' Lynch told a news conference in Switzerland Monday.

She added that all but one of the 14 have been arrested -- with three currently in the U.S. while 10 are pending extradition from Switzerland and three other countries.



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Swiss Attorney General Michael Lauber, who was speaking at the same conference in Zurich, said his organization is analyzing allegations that FIFA undersold some media rights for the 2010 and 2014 World Cups.

A report by Swiss broadcaster SRF claimed that FIFA had sold the rights to the Caribbean Football Union, then headed by the indicted Jack Warner, for a fraction of their market worth.

In a statement, FIFA said it expected to receive '50% share of any profits related to the subcontracting of these rights' but that it terminated the contract with the CFU in 2011 when this failed to materialize.

Read: FIFA officials turned football into a 'criminal enterprise'

'We analyze all facts at our disposal, including this explanation of FIFA,' said Lauber, whose office is investigating the possibility of corruption surrounding bids to host the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.

'We received the explanation last Sunday, so it's a part of documents we will analyze to see if this really valuable or not.'

Extra time needed

The Swiss probe, which has collected 'around 11 terabytes' of electronic data, revealed it has seized various financial assets after conducting house searches in Switzerland.

'Where needed, financial assets have been seized, including real estate, for example flats in the Swiss Alps,' said the 49-year-old Lauber.

'I would like to emphasize that investments in real estate can be misused for the purpose of money laundering.'

'As of today, 121 different bank accounts have been brought to the attention of our Task Force by the Swiss Financial Intelligence Unit.'

Lauber explained that that for every report, his organization has to decide whether to 'open a new investigation, join it to an existing one and whether the assets have to be frozen.'

He stressed it was too early to reveal the amount of the frozen assets while also explaining a reluctance to do so -- 'for tactical reasons.'

'This investigation will take much more than the legendary 90 minutes,' quipped Lauber of the evidence available to him. 'Clearly we are not even near the halftime break.'

Expanding investigation

Football's world governing body was rocked on May 27, when seven FIFA officials were arrested on the eve of the body's presidential elections. The charges formed part of a U.S. prosecution that indicated a total of 14 people from around the globe.

'Separate and apart from the pending indictment, our investigation remains active and ongoing, and has in fact expanded since May,' said Lynch.

'The scope of our investigation is not limited and we are following the evidence where it leads.'

Analysts have claimed that this is the biggest scandal to have hit FIFA since it was founded in 1904.

The most serious are the racketeering charges, which allege that the officials turned soccer 'into a criminal enterprise,' according to Lynch, when she spoke to reporters in New York back in May. A conviction could command a sentence of up to 20 years.

Among those indicted are Jeffrey Webb (Cayman Islands) and Eugenio Figueredo (Uruguay), both of whom are FIFA vice-presidents, while Warner (Trinidad and Tobago) is a former vice-president who left his FIFA post amidst a cloud of bribery allegations in 2011.

The U.S. probe involves the Justice Department, the FBI and the IRS criminal investigation division.

Football's world governing body was rocked on May 27, when seven FIFA officials were arrested on the eve of the body's presidential elections. The charges formed part of a U.S. prosecution that indicated a total of 14 people from around the globe. 'This investigation will take much more than the legendary 90 minutes,' quipped Lauber of the evidence available to him. 'Clearly we are not even near the halftime break.' He stressed it was too early to reveal the amount of the frozen assets while also explaining a reluctance to do so -- 'for tactical reasons.' Lauber explained that that for every report, his organization has to decide whether to 'open a new investigation, join it to an existing one and whether the assets have to be frozen.' The U.S. probe involves the Justice Department, the FBI and the IRS criminal investigation division. Football's world governing body was rocked on May 27, when seven FIFA officials were arrested on the eve of the body's presidential elections. The charges formed part of a U.S. prosecution that indicated a total of 14 people from around the globe. A report by Swiss broadcaster SRF claimed that FIFA had sold the rights to the Caribbean Football Union, then headed by the indicted Jack Warner, for a fraction of their market worth.

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