Webb crosses Atlantic under guard
Ex-CONCACAF president Jeffrey Webb in Zurich hours before his arrest by Swiss authorites
(CNS): The former FIFA vice president, CONCACAF and local football president, Jeffrey Webb, is understood to have arrived in New York after he was handed over to the United States authorities Wednesday. The Swiss authorities have confirmed that one of the seven officials arrested in Switzerland on behalf of US authorities in relation to a $150 million, 24 year-long alleged bribery and corruption scandal who agreed to extradition has left that country.
According to international reports, the unnamed official, who is understood to be Webb, flew to the US accompanied by three US law enforcement officers and is now in custody in New York, where he is expected to appear in court shortly.
Webb’s FIFA colleagues arrested alongside him in Zürich in May remain in Switzerland.
Nine football officials and five marketing executives were indicted by the US Department of Justice around the same time in May, and transcripts were unsealed in connection with another four people who had already been convicted in connection with the ongoing investigation, including Chuck Blazer, a former FIFA Executive Committee member and CONCACAF general secretary.
Following a massive ongoing investigation, the FBI has alleged “rampant, systemic, and deep-rooted” corruption in the football governing body and still has its sights set on FIFA President Sepp Blatter who so far has not been accused of any crimes.
There is no indication yet of when Webb will appear in court in Brooklyn, where the charges were filed, but he is facing a list of serious offences from wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering to accepting millions in bribes.
Webb is now also wanted by the Cayman Islands authorities after he was charged in a local corruption scandal relating to a hospital contract for a payment system alongside Conover Watson and Miriam Rodriguez.
Category: Crime, USA, World News
Perhaps he didn’t know what he was doing was wrong? Are you smoking crack? Or is that you Mac?
Please do not tar all Caymanians with the same brush. You are just like Legge.
Did he not know what he was doing when he was (allegedly) breaking the law here either? Give me a break, the man is a thief and he got caught.
I think Jeff is being “very wise” in being the first one of the FIFA bunch; to go willingly to New York. I believe he will squeal very hard.
Once the crime is not a violent one, the Feds are usually willing to negotiate once you give up other big fish and even some medium size ones as well.
If I were Jack Warner, S. Blatter and others; I would be having a Sh** hemorrhage at this moment in time.
Besides the other bribery allegations, he Feds are really aiming to discover the intricate details of why the World Cup ended up in the middle east instead of the United States.
I predict that if Jeff is convicted; with full co-operation and causing others to get indicted and convicted, he will pick up 10 – 12 years in a medium federal security prison and will be out in about 5 years time. Most of his assets will be seized (65% – 75%) but the Feds won’t strip him down to absolutely nothing. He is married to a prominent American and is the father of a young American child and all of this will be mitigating factors in any possible sentencing.
Finally a comment with sense! Where have you been! Yes sah
True.
It is simply ‘business as usual’ in the Cayman Islands. Bribery, Money Laudering, Fraud, etc. is just the way things work on these islands.
If the Government Regulators and Politicians can’t, or won’t, regulate the way business is done on these islands, perhaps it is a cultural norm.
May the best man win in he absence of rules.
Hmmm?
It is also possible that Mr. Webb was a excellent student who learned from his counterparts the intricate art of lobbying which is classified as bribery and money laundering in another jurisdiction.
I wonder where he got the suit from that he is wearing, nothing like the ones he wore before..I hope that his other buddies are soon brought to justice also
Why does it matter to you what kind of suit and shoes that the man was wearing. You so stupid the man was wearing one of his expensive suit and shoe. You want him to had borrow a cheap suit from you or wa? From men’s wear house.
I hope he was allowed the aisle seat in first class that he loved so dearly.
I hope your allowed to travel cayman brac, the only place you fly bird fly
I’m surprised Costas Takkas didn’t go with him. I wonder what’s the status of his case, a.k.a. the attaché case 🙂
Mr. Webb is the only,thus far, who is willing to admit fault and reverse the damage, whereever possible.
He took some initiative to do the right thing. (I hope).
Good Choice.
Good choice? He was going whether he liked it or not!
No he didnt he could have lived in Switzerland if so wanted to. Stupid.
He was going to evade extradition on what basis exactly? Not Swiss. Charged with a crime that is a crime in Switzerland. More than enough probably cause. Sounds cooked to me. Sure, can delay extradition by appeal, but eventually…
This is for Get it real:
You need to get your facts right BOBO!
Costas Takkas could get off scot free! Did you notice that they still don’t have a picture of him anywhere. He could just use the Shaggy defense and the judge would have to let him go.
I pray that he had a comfortable flight to his new home in America…
If he landed in NY then he will have been processed at Rikers Island, orange overalls complimentary, the ‘lifestyle’ will be a far cry from the Swiss detention center he just departed and even further from the private jet and 5 star hotels he had become accustomed to under CIFA, CONCACAF & FIFA.
Yawns.. You another stealing wifi with wrong facts.
Happy hour on me guys! See you all at Office lounge at 5!
Got a message for some of Jeff’s former associates, “Be afraid. Be very, very afraid.”
First Class no doubt
Poor guy had to travel in economy class for the first time in a while! Now time to start singing!
He should have started singing along time ago when others were exposed, as that should have been a clear indication that he was next. He missed the bus on that one.
Yes mate sing the old spiritual …. Kumbayah
Mr. Webb did not travel in Economy him and three officials were seated in First Class. I was sitting in First Class with my wife we went to Switzerland for our honey moon. My wife and I lives in New York. They were the first four to be boarded. I said Hi to Mr Webb and he said Hi to me and asked how I was doing. Yes he was wearing a designer suit and designer shoes. I had met him at the World Cup in Brasil. He sat in the isle seat across from my wife and I. In First Class. He was being treated as a ordinary person traveling in first class. Mr. Webb will not be the first or the last person that got caught up in something like this.
Excuse my English. Learning to speak English fluently. Love the Cayman Islands.
Mr. Webb has learned from his mistakes (I’m sure). Now it’s time for him to write his memoirs, actively pursue Hollywood agents that will represent him and get his book to be a New York Time’s best seller and then motion picture (Denzel Washington should play him). He will then need to do speaking engagements, become a sports commentator and possibly give lectures warning college kids to stay away from bribery and corruption at all cost despite the fleeting fame and fortune. He should get the rappers to give him a shout out on the records for more “thug appeal” and street cred.
If Hollywood likes him and he is charming enough, the sky is the limit and he can recoup what he has lost financially (sort of like Jordan Belfort/The Wolf on Wall Street, who did his time and got a movie deal from it). Only in America….