FIFA – Financial Treason & Crime

Swiss bank to pay almost $80MN fine after admitting to money laundering charges linked to bribery scheme of football officials

Paul Childs, 29 May 2021

Julius Baer, the third largest bank in Switzerland, has been ordered to pay a fine of more than $40 million and forfeit another $36 million after being found to have laundered money which was paid as bribes to football officials. The financial settlement comes amid an investigation by the US Department of Justice and is part of a deferred prosecution agreement with federal prosecutors after the DOJ said that the bank purposefully laundered cash through the US “to conceal the true nature of the payments and promote the fraud”.

The scheme saw illegal payments issued by sports marketers to officials from both FIFA and South American governing body CONMEBOL in return for rights to broadcast football matches. Continue reading “Article: Swiss bank to pay almost $80MN fine after admitting to money laundering charges linked to bribery scheme of football officials”

Bank Julius Baer Agrees to Pay More than $79 Million for Laundering Money in FIFA Scandal

Department of Justice, 27 May 2021

Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd. (BJB or the Bank), a Swiss bank with international operations, has admitted today in federal court in Brooklyn that it conspired to launder over $36 million in bribes through the United States to soccer officials with the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) and other soccer federations, in furtherance of a scheme in which sports marketing companies bribed soccer officials in exchange for broadcasting rights to soccer matches. The proceeding was held before U.S. District Judge Pamela K. Chen.

The Bank made these admissions and entered into a three-year deferred prosecution agreement with the department in connection with a criminal information filed today in the Eastern District of New York charging the Bank with conspiring to commit money laundering. As part of this agreement, the Bank has agreed to pay more than $79 million in penalties (including a fine of $43,320,000 and forfeiture of $36,368,400) to resolve the investigation into its involvement in a money laundering conspiracy that fueled this international soccer bribery scheme. Continue reading “Article: Bank Julius Baer Agrees to Pay More than $79 Million for Laundering Money in FIFA Scandal”