Fox executive and Full Play agency convicted in latest FIFAGate case
NEW YORK: The latest slice of legal fall-out in the long-running FIFAGate scandal investigation has ended with the former 21st-Century Fox Executive Hernan Lopez and Argentinian media marketing agency Full Play Group convicted by a Brooklyn jury on wire fraud and money laundering charges.
The charges all added up to conspiracy to bribe executives of international football governing bodies FIFA, CONMEBOL, and, in Full Play’s case, CONCACAF to obtain broadcast rights to international tournaments and events.
The verdict followed a seven-week trial before District Judge Pamela Chen. Lopez faces up to 40 years in prison and millions of dollars in penalties to be determined by Judge Chen. Full Play faces millions of dollars in financial penalties. Co-defendant Carlos Martinez was acquitted on both counts.
Outside court US attorney Breon Peace said: “This verdict is a resounding victory for justice and for soccer fans around the world. The defendants cheated by bribing soccer officials to act in their own greedy interests rather than in the best interests of the sport.
“Companies and individuals alike should understand that, regardless of their wealth or power, they will be brought to justice if they use the U.S. financial system to further corrupt ends.”
A statement on the background of the case said:
Full Play, a sports marketing company incorporated in Uruguay, based in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and owned by father-and-son defendants Hugo Jinkis and Mariano Jinkis, participated in numerous schemes to pay bribes to officials of CONMEBOL and CONCACAF in exchange for media and marketing rights to various soccer events, including World Cup qualifier and friendly matches, the Copa Libertadores, and multiple editions of the Copa América, a national team tournament administered by CONMEBOL.
Hugo and Mariano Jinkis, charged in the first indictment in the case unsealed on May 27, 2015, remain fugitives.
Lopez, a formerly high-ranking executive of Fox subsidiaries responsible for developing and carrying out Fox’s sports broadcasting businesses in Latin America, joined Full Play and other co-conspirators in a scheme involving the annual payment of millions of dollars in bribes to officials of CONMEBOL in exchange for the lucrative broadcasting rights to the Copa Libertadores, the region’s most popular club tournament, among other events.
Lopez also relied on loyalty secured through the payment of bribes to certain CONMEBOL officials to advance the business interests of Fox, including to obtain confidential bidding information for the rights to broadcast the 2018 and 2022 World Cup tournaments in the United States, rights that Fox successfully obtained.
Today’s conviction is the latest accomplishment in the investigation of corruption in international soccer being led by the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Eastern District of New York, the FBI’ s New York Field Office and the IRS-CI Los Angeles Field Office.
Criminal charges have been brought against more than 50 defendants from more than 20 countries, resulting to date in guilty pleas by more than 30 individual and corporate defendants and trial convictions of three individuals and one corporation.
In addition, two corporations have resolved via deferred prosecution agreements and 3 corporations have resolved via non-prosecution agreements. Each has agreed to pay substantial financial penalties.
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