Bank reviews transaction, Blake takes over at CIFA
Cayman Islands Football Association office, Grand Cayman
(CNS): The vice president of CIFA and local attorney, Bruce Blake, has been appointed as acting president of the local football body after an emergency executive meeting last night just short of a week after the arrest of Jeffrey Webb in the FIFA corruption probe. Meanwhile, Fidelity Bank has said it is “conducting an internal review” of the transactions referred to in the US justice department’s indictment against Webb and various other FIFA officials and sport executives.
As the broad impact of the probe on Cayman as an offshore financial services jurisdiction as well as its connection to Webb as CONCACAF president and FIFA VP began to bite this week, Fidelity, which is named as one of the institutions allegedly used to process the bribes Webb and other officials were said to have taken, said it was not aware of any allegations against it.
But the bank said it had “been co-operating in full accordance with its responsibilities with regulators and other government authorities, and will continue to do so”.
Yesterday, the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority, the local bank regulator, said it would “act appropriately, dispassionately and in accordance” with its legal obligations. “At this stage it would be inappropriate and legally impermissible for us to make any further comment or statement on these matters,” the regulator added.
Fidelity Group CEO Anwer Sunderji
Fidelity Group CEO Anwer Sunderji said that the “directors and executives consider the fight against money laundering to be a priority issue”, and that as the bank goes through the process it will operate as normal.
“Licensed institutions are required to report suspicious activity and we are satisfied that the bank discharged its duty with respect to the specific transactions. We will be embarking on a comprehensive independent review of our procedures and processes to confirm that our bank is indeed in line with regulatory requirements,” Sunderji added.
Denying any wrongdoing, the bank, where Webb worked for many years before taking up the CONCACAF presidency, said it was conducting the review with “external assistance”.
Sunderji said the bank was deeply disappointed at the indictment of Webb, whom he described as a “talented man who had the hopes of his country resting on his shoulders. We hope that he will be able to rebuild his life.”
The Cayman Islands Football Association (CIFA), which up until now has remained silent since Webb’s arrest, also said it was “disappointed” by the events but added that Webb was innocent until proven guilty. Confirming Blake’s appointment as the acting president in a short press release, the association indicated this was because of the FIFA ban and pending on the outcome of any ongoing investigation by the FIFA Ethics Committee, paving the way for Webb’s return.
Bruce Blake, now President of CIFA
Offering prayers for Webb and his family, CIFA said it remained committed to the organisation and development of local football.
“We are focused on hosting the CONCACAF Boys Under 15 Championship in August of this year, the Men’s Olympic qualifying in Haiti this month and our end of season awards ceremony on 26 June … in addition to the completion of the artificial turf field at the centre of excellence,” the association said.
CNS has asked CIFA if it voted for Blatter, who has now announced his intention to step down, at the FIFA Annual Congress Friday but we are still awaiting a response.
Fidelity Bank statement following the arrest of Jeffery Webb 2 June 2015
CIFA statement following the arrest of Jeffery Webb 2 June 2015
Category: Local News
All I see are budgeted figurers with no audit report. Strange no budget for 2015. There are also no names of the executive committee on the website.
The soccer playing public and fans need some transparency and have the right to know what is going on. Right now the public are very suspicious and they have a right to be. There are more flags here than in the Madrid bull ring. As an accountant please give us some meaningful information Mr Blake or face a red card! Yellow cards need be handed out to other members of your committee for not playing the game fairly.
Praying for Webb and his family? Not the thousands of dead construction workers in Qatar who died working on stadiums for a world cup bought with bribes to loathsome individuals like Jeff Webb….
Pray for Webb?
You gotta be kidding me!
You may as well send money to a millionaire TV evangelist…
Wake up!!!
Young footballers of Cayman, make a STRONG stand. We want to hear from YOU! They, need to hear from YOU! After all, this all about you!
The corruption, greed and arrogance affected you the most. By their actions…
– YOU were denied the opportunity to develop your skills
– YOU were denied the exposure of competition to mature your confidence
– YOU were denied the equipment, resources and attention to grow football in Cayman
I encourage you to speak up, loud and clear and make your voice heard. We want to hear you, see your posts, say who you are and speak your mind. Be the change you want to see.
SB
Dear CNS , after reading the comment posted CALLING THE YOUTH , I completely agree with everything said in the comment . I feel that being the reliable and dependable news media you are, I wonder if you could really get the kids involved in this matter which is going to affect them in so many ways, I hope so.
From Blake’s page on the Maples website.
“Bruce has worked on various repackaging programmes and on general finance and structured finance matters.”
Yeah, right.
bruce….did you vote for blatter???
The CIFA is praying for Webb.
So typically Cayman Islands.
Disgusting double standards . . . .
Anyone who has supported Blatter can never credibly hold a position of authority in football ever again.
Septic Bladder
Ah Cayman…already slagging off the man who stepped up to do the job while you all slink into the shadows…such brave hearts!
What a web is weaved when they all try to conceal.
Time longer than rope…… and the bucket may go to the well 99 times but the 100 time, the bottom drops out with a big splash.
Bruce Blake??? Better off leaving Jeff as president as he cant do as much damage from a Swiss holding cell but Bruce will continue the same way continuing to bring then island into disrepute. The CIFA board in its entirety MUST go. And go NOW. If you all had an ounce of integrity step aside.
What have prayers got to do with CIFA? $$$$$$ more like. Incompetent scumbags
Bruce Blake OMG from bad to worse. Smh
You only have to read the New York Times (google it) to realise that Cayman will have to take some serious action on local football executives to retain any credibility. Cayman is inextricably linked to the FIFA scandal, and it’s going to get worse. Jeffrey Webb is innocent until trial result, but CONCACAF ditched him quickly. Who in the CIFA has benefitted from the paid for VIP trips to world cup and other tournaments. If your names on the guest list, you need to step aside. FIFA’s tentacles are being reigned in.
Let’s look into the “Olympic committee” also, as long as we’re cleaning house. God, there is no end to it!
Bruce, Bruce, Bruce. The shades of evening are closing in upon you. Tell what you know. Your law firm will not protect you if there is wrongdoing you know of.
He’s only an associate so there is no loyalty from his employer
Replacing Jeff Webb with Bruce Blake is like replacing Jack Warner with Jeff Webb…………absolutely nothing will change and the same wheeling and dealing will continue unabated.
Get them ALL out and put in some people who actually played football and understand the game, like Anthony Ramoon and Renard Moxam.
Noooooo! Not Renard!! He’s making a big mess of the current position he now holds in Cayman football. Can’t let the fox guard the hen house.
Wa you say not Temard wow!
How about the Jordanian……..
CIFA may say Webb is innocent until proven guilty, but that is the British system. In the U.S , you are guilty until you can prove your innocence.
So nobody else at CIFA was wondering what happenend to the funds That were given to CIFA to complete this “center of excellence”? Nobody else was wondering why that Pitch right next to the “center of excellence” was left in dire conditions and not utilized? Sack the entire board!!!!
http://m.fifa.com/development/facts-and-figures/association=cay/financial-assistance-programme.html
I confess not to be an accountant, but my god half a million a year. Wow
I wouldn’t trust any of these figures.
Why? These appear to be audited figures.
And 800k in “bonus” over 4 years. CIFA need to come clean. Open up the books for all to see.
From FIFA. Add to that what the CIG gives them every year then throw in the money from sponsors. Why would anyone give these clowns a penny from here out?
No disrespect to the women’s game, but 150k alone in 2014, and this is only a FIFA payment. If you take into account the other sponsorship payments, o my. There are professional clubs around the world, who survive on less.
…and the investigate them.
weak from cifa…..but hey… this is cayman….what do you expect?
CIFA executive committee were all puppets for Jeff Webb who enjoyed all the grandiose living celebrity lifestyle at the expense of local football. It is not realistic to expect his followers Blake, Macey, Scotland, P Campbell, M Campbell, Goddet, Glidden, Rankine to do anything to go against the wishes of the master or in the best interests of the sport.
Time to clean house over at CIFA and start over.
Couldn’t have said it any better myself. Each and every single one of them, his chosen little ‘yes men’ and personal entourage at every FIFA Congress and World Cup, all expenses paid. Not one prominent ex-footballer amongst them. The envy and jealousy of the top footballers in Cayman during Cayman’s heyday, 1982-1995 is what has fueled much of this corrupt takeover of CIFA….and gifts and favours thrown around has kept Jeffrey Webb in power in CIFA. A seperate investigation needs to be started into this group of so-called football administrators. They are all as guilty as their boss, of alleged football corruption.
again, aren’t they all UDP? wow
Rebuild his life , innocent until proven guilty, .He should man up and fly to the USA and prove his accrues wrong. Then if he clears his name ; YES rebuild his life with all our help. But the way its looking , he will have a mansion with a pool view 8″ from his bead.
It’s interesting that they avoided any mention of the fact that he can’t very well serve as president of CIFA when he is incarcerated and is not allowed to speak to anyone but his lawyer. Of course since they only meet once a year maybe that wasn’t seen as a problem yet. Also interesting that they do not seem inclined to audit the books even though the president and an ex-treasurer are both charged with various frauds and mismanagement. Oh well, there probably aren’t any books other than the check book, if they can find it.
The entire CIFA Executive committee must all resign if CIFA is to have any credibility nothing less is acceptable
Does anyone know if Bruce Blake cast the Cayman Islands vote for Blatter last week?
Look at the You Tube video of the vote from around 52 minutes onwards Booth 2 and tell us please.
Yes he did.
thanks
says a lot for his judgment then… agree now with previous posts, the entire CIFA needs to be reshuffled
Not reshuffled. Dissolved and new blood brought in.
Is he a member of UDP?
The only way forward is for members of the national squad to rule themselves unavailable for the trip to Haiti. The parents of the under 15 should also make their children unavailable and the seasons award ceremony should be boycotted.
But then this is Cayman. No one has any balls. so I don’t expect much.
Please dont go there, there are other ways of dealing with this, our ballers need the exposure badly …
If they have the balls and do it now, the board will have no option but to resign. The longer you leave it the worse it will become.
There is no other way.
Agreed! Young people, make a STRONG stand. We want to hear from YOU! They need to hear from YOU! After all, this all about you!
The corruption, greed and arrogance affected you the most. By their actions, YOU were denied the opportunity to develop your skills. YOU were denied the exposure of competition to mature your confidence. YOU were denied the equipment, resources and attention to grow football in Cayman.
I encourage you to speak up, loud and clear and make your voice heard. We want to hear you, see your posts, say who you are and speak your mind. Be the change you want to see.
SB
why should the children be forced to pay for the sins of the fathers.
They already are. Sometimes you just have to stand up and be counted.
CNS, can you confirm that Blatter has resign, if he has this would be his shortest term in 20 year of been president of FIFA.
CNS: We posted this yesterday Blatter to quit as FIFA president
Blatter-voting junket monkeys.
One of the worst outcomes of this whole debacle is the rubbing of Cayman’s noses in the supposed dirt around here by the Compass’ editorial board. Today’s (Wednesday’s) editorial takes the cake. It was difficult to continue reading this latest attack and I can only hope that we survive by the time the Compass is finished with us.
Your distrust and lack of understanding of the people of Cayman is matched only by the disaffection that the Cayman community feels. So sad that we must put up with this constantly seeping wall of yellow journalism that contaminates our national atmosphere.
I just wonder exactly what the Compass is trying to do. If you are trying to destroy Cayman, you are doing a great job. As a Caymanian, I can tell you, I do not recognise myself and Cayman in the picture you paint. YOU DO NOT KNOW US.
I don’t care for them, but to me it seems like he’s trying to save your ass
The compass is having a lot of local help in destroying the credibility of this little island. Corruption makes great copy so what would you have them do, ignore the story that is on the front pages of every major newspaper in the Western World. It is not an attack on is the ordinary honest Cayman people, it is an attack on ingrained corruption and nepotism.
8:35 am: This particular story is about the actions of one Caymanian — yet you say “it is an attack on ingrained nepotism and corruption.”
You are reflecting exactly the view that the Compass wants you to. They are achieving their goal of shaping your opinion.
I see no evidence of “ingrained corruption”. Where are the investigations, the arrests, the court cases that would justify that conclusion?
I want the media to do their job, but I want honesty and integrity in that process — not the type of generalization and the wholesale condemning of the Cayman sector of the society. It literally makes me sick to see this agenda played out in the daily which is supposed to be an objective reflection of the society. To see how Caymanians are stupidly accepting this assessment by people who have very little knowledge of Caymanian society is disappointing and sad beyond words.
The only consolation I hold on to is that nothing lasts forever. I have seen politically and otherwise motivated newspapers come and go and I have no doubt at all that what is taking place at the Compass cannot continue indefinitely. I hope that one sector that will wake up will be the advertisers, as I am sure the pockets that are now sustaining them will not do that indefinitely either.
I truly look forward to the seeing the backs of some of these imposters. In the mean time, Caymanians should not be blindly accepting the views of people who clearly have limited knowledge and certainly little affection for Cayman and its people.
Ok – So a Caymanian who has risen to more international success than just about anyone else gets busted and disgraced for corruption and all you want to do is complain about the local newspaper reporting it? I hate to tell you this honey but they’re saying much worse about Cayman in the international news media. And if you don’t comprehend that corruption is systemic in Cayman, you either refuse to see or are delusional. Corruption in Cayman certainly includes foreign nationals but Caymanian are typically the gatekeepers because they hold most of the power in
government. Quit trying to blame exists for everything.
If the Compass has information on endemic corruption they should go to the authorities with the evidence — then they will have some basic to besmirch us all.
I couldn’t agree more, 12:59 am. While media are expected to shine a light on what needs to be corrected, we would never see a responsible media damning all the “natives” for the misdeeds of even many. Advertisers, for one, would not stand for it. And I hope that the advertisers are taking note.
The USA has the highest incarceration rate in the world — a huge army of laws and lawyers daily fight corruption and all types of crime — but you don’t see the responsible media damning all Americans, possibly because they themselves identify as Americans and know that there are honest and upright Americans in spite of all the problems.
Of course, we know the limitations in that regard in this largely expatriate media organisation that has such limited insight into and identity with Caymanian society, values and aspirations.
This is now a opportunity for all the local football clubs to make history by breaking up the culture of entitlement, opportunism, division, patronage,and all that I can get for my club and self, that is so rampant in local football. This is the legacy that Jeff along with his subordinate members that make up CIFA exicutive established during their reign so they could continue in their positions of power at the expense of ruining football locally. By uniting together the clubs can chart a new course for football in Cayman by electing new administrators who is willing to be held accountable to the local football fraternity and the people of Cayman.The reality is,the current CIFA administration and its leader has failed us as a country, as Coaches, club administrators, and most of all the players who makes football the beautiful game it is.
What is wrong with this picture? A report out of London today from The Lawyer states that Maples & Calder is defending Webb in the courts. Is not the new CIFA President a Maples lawyer?