Britain’s two biggest High Street banks dragged into the FIFA bribery and corruption scandal

From Mail Online -
Two of Britain’s biggest High Street banks have been dragged into the bribery and corruption scandal engulfing football’s world governing body.

Barclays and HSBC have been named in legal papers filed by the US Department of Justice after millions of dollars in suspect transactions linked to Fifa were allegedly moved through their accounts.

On Wednesday the Americans charged 14 officials following a four-year FBI probe into bribes to obtain lucrative marketing rights to football tournaments.

The corruption allegations were set out in a 160-page dossier. The documents also name London-based Standard Chartered Bank, which focuses largely on developing countries.

All three British-based banks are said to have handled suspicious transactions linked either to FIFA or its officials and connected companies.”

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Questions arise about banks' role in FIFA bribery case

From YAHOO! News –

“A raft of banks could face tough questions in the sweeping U.S. crackdown on alleged corruption in global football as prosecutors review how much they knew about millions of dollars in bribes flowing through the U.S. banking system to accounts around the world.

More than a dozen banks are named in the U.S. Department of Justice's indictment of nine officials at FIFA, the game's powerful governing body, and five sports media and promotion executives, over charges involving more than $150 million (£97.8 million) in bribes.

"Part of our investigation will look at the conduct of the financial institutions to see whether they were cognizant of the fact they were helping launder these bribe payments," Kelly T. Currie, acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said at a news conference.

"It's too early to say if there is any problematic behaviour, but it will be part of our investigation," he said.”

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How Watergate helps explain how the U.S. can prosecute FIFA officials

From The Washington Post –

The U.S. Justice Department unsealed an indictment Wednesday that charges 47 individuals, including FIFA officials, with bribery, racketeering, money laundering, fraud and other related crimes. While many of the details are still unclear, it appears that many of these alleged crimes were neither committed in the United States nor by U.S. citizens:

“The indictment alleges corruption that is rampant, systemic, and deep-rooted both abroad and here in the United States,” said Attorney General Lynch. “It spans at least two generations of soccer officials who, as alleged, have abused their positions of trust to acquire millions of dollars in bribes and kickbacks. And it has profoundly harmed a multitude of victims, from the youth leagues and developing countries that should benefit from the revenue generated by the commercial rights these organizations hold, to the fans at home and throughout the world whose support for the game makes those rights valuable. Today’s action makes clear that this Department of Justice intends to end any such corrupt practices, to root out misconduct, and to bring wrongdoers to justice – and we look forward to continuing to work with other countries in this effort.”

Why is it that the United States can prosecute non-citizens who work for an organization located in Switzerland and who are accused of taking bribes abroad? Philip Bump explains that there are U.S. statutes that that can target foreign citizens for crimes committed abroad as long as these foreign citizens have some ties to the United States. An especially important legal instrument is the 1977 Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). The Justice Department (for criminal investigations) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) frequently use this law: For instance, the law was used to levy heavy fines against German companies, registered with the New York Stock Exchange, that bribed foreign government officials to win contracts.

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