Hong Kong linked to Fifa bribery scandal through 'complex' money laundering schemes
City among centres where tens of millions of US dollars was allegedly laundered as world game of soccer is rocked by the arrests of top officials
Hong Kong was on Wednesday night named as one of the focuses of "complex" money laundering schemes involving tens of millions of US dollars that is at the heart of a corruption scandal rocking the "world game" of soccer.
On a day of sensational allegations against soccer's world governing body Fifa, seven top officials were arrested and other leading names were charged over allegations described as the "World Cup of fraud".
Both US and Swiss authorities announced separate inquiries into the activities of Fifa, accusing soccer officials of using various schemes to enrich themselves over the past 24 years.
Watch: World soccer rocked after FIFA graft arrests
Prosecutors say they had discovered a dozen schemes, including one involving the awarding of the 2010 World Cup to South Africa and another involving the 2011 Fifa presidential election.
Swiss authorities also opened criminal proceedings over the awarding of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.
Richard Weber, chief of criminal investigation for the US tax office, cited Hong Kong, the Cayman Islands and Switzerland as the focus of "complex" money laundering schemes that shifted at least US$151 million of untaxed income through hidden offshore accounts.
According to US court documents, US$1.2 million was funnelled into the Hong Kong HSBC account of one of the arrested men - Fifa official Costas Takkas. A further US$750,000 and US$250,000 was sent from that HSBC account to a company in the Cayman Islands controlled by Takkas, the documents allege.
Takkas is the current attache to the Concacaf, the federation that governs the game in North America, Central America and the Caribbean.
"To date US$151 million has been identified," Weber said. "[The US tax office] has exposed complex money laundering schemes, uncovered millions of dollars in untaxed income and discovered tens of millions of dollars hidden away in offshore accounts such as Hong Kong, the Cayman Islands and Switzerland," he said.
"This really is the World Cup of fraud and today we are issuing Fifa with a red card."
US Attorney General Loretta Lynch said the arrested officials had corrupted the international game. "They corrupted the business of worldwide soccer to serve their interests and to enrich themselves," Lynch said.
"Beginning in 1991, two generations of soccer officials," Lynch said, "used their positions of trust within their respective organisations to solicit bribes from sports marketers in exchange for the commercial rights to their soccer tournaments.
"They did this over and over, year after year, tournament after tournament."
Citing an example, Lynch said that in preparation for the 2016 Copa American being held in the United States for the first time, US$110 million in bribes were paid.
"Our investigation revealed that what should be an expression of international sportsmanship was used as a vehicle in a broader scheme to line executives' pockets," Lynch said.
She spoke after Swiss authorities acting on the US indictments detained seven Fifa leaders in a dawn raid in Zurich, where the soccer governing body was tomorrow expected to re-elect its president Sepp Blatter. The Swiss-born Blatter was not named in either investigation.
In all, nine soccer officials and five sports media and promotions executives have so far been charged.
Among those charged was former Fifa vice-president Jack Warner, who is alleged to have solicited US$10 million in bribes from the South African government to host the 2010 World Cup.
The seven officials arrested in Zurich are Fifa vice-presidents Jeffrey Webb and Eugenio Figueredo, Eduardo Li, Julio Rocha, Takkas, Rafael Esquivel and Jose Maria Marin.
US authorities said four men and two sports marketing companies had already pleaded guilty. They are believed to be cooperating with the investigation.
Among them was Chuck Blazer - who for nearly two decades was the most senior American official at Fifa - who officials said had pocketed millions of dollars in marketing commissions and avoided paying tax.
Guilty pleas were also given by Daryan Warner and Daryll Warner - sons of Jack Warner - and Jose Hawilla, the owner of the Brazil-based sports marketing firm Traffic Group. The two companies to enter guilty pleas are owned by Hawilla.
US officials say he has agreed to forfeit more than US$151 million.
The US Department of Justice said the Miami headquarters of Concacaf were being searched.
Fifa spokesman Walter De Gregorio said the arrests were a "difficult moment" but tomorrow's election would still be held and the World Cups would go ahead.
An earlier version of this article stated that Costas Takkas funnelled US$1.2 million to a HSBC bank account in Hong Kong. In fact, according to the court documents, the money was funnelled to Takkas from Brazilian company Traffic International. Subsequently, two transfers, amounting to US$1 million, were sent from the HSBC account in Hong Kong to another account in the Cayman Islands controlled by Takkas.
