Caribbean 360 is reporting former FIFA vice-president Jack Warner used US$10 million from football’s governing body to pay credit card debt, give himself personal loans, and also laundered some of the money, according to a BBC investigation.
BBC reported that it had seen documents detailing three wire transfers on January 4, February 1 and March 10, 2008 from FIFA accounts to the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) accounts.
Warner, who is Trinidadian, was president of CONCACAF at the time and he controlled all of the accounts.
The money had been sent by FIFA on behalf of South Africa and was intended to be used for that country’s Caribbean diaspora legacy program which was aimed at developing football in the region.
However, the report indicated, of that money, almost US$1.6 million was used to pay Warner’s credit cards and personal loans.
Warner is among 14 people – nine of them current or former FIFA top officials and five sports marketing and broadcasting executives – accused of racketeering, wire fraud, money laundering, bribery. United States prosecutors allege they offered and accepted more than $150 million in bribes and kickbacks over a 24-year period.
He has denied all allegations and plans to fight his extradition to the US to fight the charges.
Read more at Caribbean 360.
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