Tag: Canover Watson

Watson and Blake jailed in CIFA fraud case

Watson and Blake jailed in CIFA fraud case

| 19/04/2023 | 65 Comments

(CNS): Former CIFA and CONCACAF executives Canover Watson and Bruce Blake were both sent to jail by Chief Justice Margaret Ramsay-Hale on Wednesday, following their conviction in October last year in relation to a football fraud. While Watson was handed an eight-year term, reflecting his leading role in the fraud and money laundering, Bruce Blake […]

Continue Reading

Lawyers urge leniency for Watson and Blake

Lawyers urge leniency for Watson and Blake

| 17/03/2023 | 83 Comments

(CNS): Attorneys representing Canover Watson (52) and Bruce Blake (51) urged leniency for their clients on Thursday as they argued that the convictions against the two men in a football-related fraud were not the most serious crimes of their kind, as prosecutors had contended. Watson is facing a potentially long sentence after he was convicted […]

Continue Reading

Football execs found guilty in fraud case

Football execs found guilty in fraud case

| 28/10/2022 | 123 Comments

(CNS): Canover Watson has been found guilty of all charges against him in the football fraud case, while his colleague and friend, Bruce Blake, has been found guilty of two of the four charges against him for his part in the scam against CONCACAF. After a twelve-week trial, the jury returned their unanimous verdict on […]

Continue Reading

Jury deliberates complex Watson-Blake case

Jury deliberates complex Watson-Blake case

| 27/10/2022

(CNS): Ten men and women who have spent the last twelve weeks poring over mountains of documents and listening to witness evidence, in person and via video link, arguments from three lawyers and a detailed direction from the judge finally began their deliberations Thursday over the fate of Canover Watson and Bruce Blake. The two […]

Continue Reading

Attorneys battle over truth in Watson-Blake case

Attorneys battle over truth in Watson-Blake case

| 14/10/2022

(CNS): Canover Watson and Bruce Blake are both liars, prosecuting counsel Eloise Marshall KC told a jury this week as she summed up the crown’s case against the two men, who are accused of scamming $1.5 million from the regional football association, CONCACAF, and of laundering the cash almost a decade ago. But Dapinder Singh […]

Continue Reading

Blake denies laundering Watson’s ‘stolen’ cash

Blake denies laundering Watson’s ‘stolen’ cash

| 12/10/2022

(CNS): Bruce Blake, a former football executive with both CIFA and CONCACAF, has denied money laundering and false accounting in relation to a scheme where, prosecutors say, he helped his colleague Canover Watson hide more than $1.5 million, the proceeds of scam invoices for football kit. Blake claimed the work he did for Canover Watson […]

Continue Reading

‘I’m innocent’ claims Watson after week on stand

‘I’m innocent’ claims Watson after week on stand

| 06/10/2022

(CNS): Former local business leader and regional football executive Canover Watson told a jury that he was the innocent party in the prosecution’s $1.5 million football fraud case against him and his former CIFA and CONCACAF colleague, Bruce Blake. After a week giving evidence on his own behalf, Watson accused anti-corruption investigators of bias and […]

Continue Reading

Auditors flagged $1.2M unsecured CIFA ‘loans’

Auditors flagged $1.2M unsecured CIFA ‘loans’

| 01/09/2022

(CNS): A director with Rankin Berkower, which conducted the Cayman Islands Football Association’s audits, explained to a jury this week how he spotted red flags in the 2014 annual review of CIFA’s books and reported his concerns to the Anti-Corruption Commission. As the trial of Canover Watson and Bruce Blake on charges of fraud and […]

Continue Reading

Watson’s sports company partner denies taking cash

Watson’s sports company partner denies taking cash

| 22/08/2022

(CNS): A football equipment salesman involved in a complex business partnership with Canover Watson between 2013 and 2015 denied wrongfully taking money from the sale of sports equipment or being involved in any of the fraud that Watson is accused of perpetrating on the regional football body, CONCACAF. Shakeel Khawaja, a representative for Forward Sports, […]

Continue Reading

Forward Sport rep confused by Watson’s companies

Forward Sport rep confused by Watson’s companies

| 16/08/2022

(CNS): The key witness in a fraud case against football executives Canover Watson and Bruce Blake told the jury he was confused by the companies that Watson created, for which he was named as a partner, as part of the deals to sell football equipment. Shakeel Khawaja, who was a sales manager for Forward Sports […]

Continue Reading

Watson’s lawyer challenges fake invoice allegation

Watson’s lawyer challenges fake invoice allegation

| 10/08/2022

(CNS): The attorney representing Canover Watson challenged the false invoice claims at the heart of the crown’s case against his client as he cross examined the prosecution’s first witness on Tuesday. David Cruz, CONCACAF’s financial chief, had confirmed the accusation that three invoices from Forward Sports for over $1.5 million worth of sports kit that […]

Continue Reading