FIFA: Argentine Executives Surrender to Authorities
BUENOS AIRES, June 18 (UPI) — Hugo and Mariano Jinkis, two businessmen accused of bribery as part of the FIFA scandal, have handed themselves over to authorities in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Hugo and his son Mariano, owners of Full Play Group, a soccer broadcasting rights company, presented themselves to a judge Thursday morning. The Jinkis’ now face an extradition judiciary.
They are accused of bribing FIFA officials with potentially millions of dollars as to win and maintain contracts for media rights from regional soccer authorities, including most South American teams and some teams from the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF).
Alejandro Burzaco, another Argentine executive, handed himself over to Italian authorities earlier this month.
FIFA has been embroiled in chaos and controversy since late May after the U.S. Justice Department charged 14 FIFA officials and corporate executives, including the Jinkis’, of “racketeering, wire fraud and money-laundering conspiracies, among other offenses, in connection with the defendants’ participation in a 24-year scheme to enrich themselves through the corruption of international soccer.”
Swiss prosecutors recently announced that nine terabytes of “suspicious banking relations” bank report data has been gathered, which could indicate possible money-laundering related to FIFA corruption. It could take years to comb through the data.
The scandal led FIFA President Sep Blatter, who won reelection days after the charges were announced, to declare his pending resignation, which could come as early as December.
