Webb released on $10m bail after denying corruption charges
NEW YORK: Ex-FIFA vice-president Jeffrey Webb has been released from detention seven weeks after being arrested in Zurich.
The Cayman Islands banker was freed on bail to house arrest with an electronic tag by a Brooklyn court to which he had been brought from Switzerland after being arrested on corruption charges laid by the United States Department of Justice.
Webb, 50-year-old former president of CONCACAF and who has been suspended from all football activities, was among seven men detained on May 25, two days before the FIFA Congress at which president Sepp Blatter was elected for a fifth term in office.
He denies charges of racketeering conspiracy, wire fraud and money laundering and was released on $10m bail comprising 10 properties, five Rolex watches plus further watches such as a Cartier Roadster, Hublot, Breitling, Panerai, Royal Oak Offshore and Luminor Marina.
It is also secured by his 2003 Mercedes-Benz as well as a 2015 Ferrari and 2014 Range Rover in the name of his wife, Dr Kendra Gamble-Webb and her diamond wedding ring along with a diamond bracelet, diamond and pearl necklace, one pair of pearl earrings, one pair of long-hanging diamond earrings, and Rolex and Hublot watches. Her partnership equity in an unnamed company was also used.
No trial date was set for the 50-year-old Cayman Islander who is among nine soccer officials and five marketing executives charged with allegedly exploiting the sport for their own gain through bribes of more than $150m over 24 years.
US authorities say their investigation, paralleling a separate Swiss inquiry, has exposed complex money laundering schemes, millions of dollars in untaxed incomes and tens of millions in offshore accounts held by FIFA officials.
Webb, according to the indictment, Webb used his influential positions to solicit bribes from sports marketing companies in exchange for the commercial rights to soccer matches.
One $500,000 bribe payment allegedly went to build a swimming pool at Webb’s house in Loganville, Georgia, according to the indictment.
Webb also faces charges in an unrelated healthcare fraud case in the Cayman Islands.
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