Just wanted to clear this up for anyone not informed or thinking that Puerto Rico took the bribes and sat idle. I keep getting crap from people who do not research telling me PR were bribe takers... WRONG! The Puerto Rico Football Federation, headed by former island Sports & Recreation Secretary Eric Labrador, appears to have been among the recipients and a chief whistleblower in the case. FIFA’s secretary general Jerome Valcke announced Sunday that the Puerto Rico Football Federation sent him an email confirming it had received $40,000 but had brought a check to Switzerland to return the money. Valcke said Puerto Rico’s email proved that bribes had been handed out at the May meeting in Trinidad. LINK: http://www.caribbeanbusinesspr.com/news03.php?nt_id=57902&ct_id=1
I'm actually quite shocked honestly, I mean, I am from Puerto Rico but this is just so well played it astonishes me!!!
Brought a check? So basically pocketed the cash and came up with a check when they found out s was about to hit the fan?
Had they not done it that way, then we would be back to simply PR FA's word against Warner's. Warner's denial wont suffice this time. This time we have incontrovertible evidence he provided the cash, it was deposited into an account, and then returned. PR FA played it masterfully. Warner is done. And he knows it.
There also could have been a delay because the Puerto Rico FA had to file their own reports with the FBI before they could notify FIFA. The conspiracy originated in Miami and resulted in the bribery of a U.S. based non-profit organization. It doesn't matter that the bribe was physically handed out in Trinidad, U.S. laws may still have been broken.
Hate to say this, but it is US law that is scaring FIFA away and probably why the US lost to... QATAR... What I am saying is they can't do business as usual in the USA where in other countries they get the royal carpet treatment and luggage full of cash.
Actually a good thing... Now idict all those mofos and arrest them the minute they land in the USA... No more Vacations in America will make them think twice..!! And they can ban the USA all they want...but it's OUR MONEY and the FANS of AMERICA that keep that penny ante outfit going...!!
Not allowed to travel with more than $9,999 in cash. You can travel with $9,999, but no more than that.
The U.S. government can do a fair amount more than that too. If for some reason this spurred the Department of Justice to action they could freeze all of CONCACAF's assets as part of an illegal enterprise. In April the U.S. Attorney General went after on-line poker websites that were incorporated in the Caribbean and froze billions in assets. http://news.bluffmagazine.com/doj-charges-three-major-online-poker-sites-with-fraud-20133/. If CONCACAF officials ever reached a level of criminal corruption that touches upon U.S. borders and spurred action by the U.S. Attorney General then the confederation would be penniless overnight.
Not true. You simply must declare it. Further, you can just fill out the form and there are warehouses full of unscrutinized forms sitting around.
You are correct in saying that they could go after CONCACAF given this went down on US soil...in theory. The question is, "Would they even bother?" Online gambling is one thing. We're talking about billions of dollars there. This is bribery that doesn't directly impact the US government or its general business interests totalling a couple hundred K at most. The economic incentive to drop the hammer just isn't there. It's not like US corporations don't pay this kind of money to local politicians in places like China, India, the ME, and Russia all the time to grease the wheels on new factory construction.