US prosecutors tightened the noose in a FIFA corruption scandal on Tuesday by hauling former Venezuelan Football Federation president Rafael Esquivel before court in New York and extracting a guilty plea from a former match agent.
Former South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL) vice president Esquivel, who was extradited from Switzerland on Monday to face corruption charges, pleaded not guilty in a federal court in Brooklyn.
Esquivel, 69, was arrested in Zurich, Switzerland, in May last year as part of a US-led investigation into corruption at world soccer’s graft-tainted governing body, FIFA.
He is accused of taking bribes worth several million US dollars for the awarding of sports marketing contracts in connection with the Copa America and risks up to 20 years in prison in the US.
In a brief hearing that lasted less than five minutes, Esquivel’s lawyer, David Goldstein, entered a not guilty plea and told the judge it was “too early” to make a request for bail.
Before the same federal judge, a Colombian former FIFA match agent pleaded guilty to four counts of money laundering, wire fraud conspiracy and falsifying a tax return, and was later released on bail of US$1.5 million.
Miguel Trujillo, 65, paid hundreds of thousands of US dollars in bribes to high-ranking FIFA and soccer officials in Central America and the Caribbean to secure media and marketing contracts, US prosecutors said.
Trujillo, a legal resident of the US, was based in Florida and was licensed by FIFA to negotiate and arrange matches between member associations.
“Are you pleading voluntarily?” US District Judge Raymond Dearie asked.
“Yes,” Trujillo answered.
He had not previously been named among dozens of officials and marketing executives indicted in a sweeping US corruption investigation.
Thirteen people have pleaded guilty and agreed to cooperate with US prosecutors in the FIFA case in exchange for a possible reduction in sentence. Another 27 are currently awaiting trial.
In a separate FIFA-related hearing, another New York judge granted house arrest to former Costa Rican Football Federation president Eduardo Li after he fulfilled two bail conditions.
Li provided US$1.1 million in cash and guarantees of two US properties as security that he would remain in the US as part of a US$5 million deal for house arrest.
House arrest conditions require that Li remain in New York, monitored by an electronic bracelet and 24-hour video surveillance. He also surrendered his passport to the FBI. Li, 57, was arrested in Zurich in May last year at the outbreak of the swirling corruption scandal and was extradited to the US in December last year. He faces charges that include fraud and money laundering. He denies wrongdoing.
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