Six top Officials Arrested On Charges Of Wire Fraud, Racketeering and Money Laundering

The New York Times reported that prosecutors will unseal an indictment against 14 officials in what is  shaping up as the first step in exposing corruption allegations that have plagued FIFA for years.
The officials include CONCACAF President and FIFA Vice President Jeffrey Webb, Eduadio Li, Eugenio Figueredo, the former president of the South America association; former FIFA Vice President Jack Warner, Julio Rocha, Costas Takkas, Rafael Esquivel, José Maria Marin and Nicolás Leoz. Charges were also expected against sports-marketing executives Alejandro Burzaco, Aaron Davidson, Hugo Jinkis, Mariano Jinkis.
The New York Times reported that “the arrests were carried out peacefully, with at least two men being ushered out of the hotel without handcuffs”. It is a huge blow to FIFA’s reputation ahead of the presidential elections. “We’re struck by just how long this went on for and how it touched nearly every part of what FIFA did,” a police official is quoted as saying in the NY Times. “It just seemed to permeate every element of the federation and was just their way of doing business. It seems like this corruption was institutionalised.”
The Swiss Federal Office of Justic (FOJ) released a statement pertaining to the arrests.
“The bribery suspects – representatives of sports media and sports promotion firms – are alleged to have been involved in schemes to make payments to the soccer functionaries – delegates of Fifa (Federation Internationale de Football Association) and other functionaries of Fifa sub-organisations – totalling more than US$100m.
In return, it is believed that they received media, marketing, and sponsorship rights in connection with soccer tournaments in Latin America.”
It is a big moment in the career of US Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch, who took office last month. There is expected to be a press conference held on Wednesday in America.
US law gives their Justice Department the jurisdiction to move against foreign nationals outside America, relying on even a minimal link to the USA. Further, Switzerland has a treaty with America that sees them able to hand suspects over for prosecution in America in the area of general criminal law.
New York journalists Michael Schmidt and Sam Borden live tweeted the developments from Zurich.