ESPN Article:
FIFA member Mohamed Bin Hammam refused to speak to investigators or provide his bank records during the probe into allegations he paid cash gifts to Caribbean football officials, according to a report to FIFA's ethics committee.
The report, by Freeh Group International (FGI) Europe - the private investigative agency owned by ex-FBI chief Louis Freeh - concludes that while there is "no direct evidence" linking Bin Hammam to the offer or payment of cash there is "compelling circumstantial evidence" that the 62-year-old Qatari was the source of the money.
Bin Hammam, a FIFA executive committee member and president of the Asian Football Confederation, has been suspended since May 29 on charges of bribery. He denies any wrongdoing.
The Freeh report states: "Through his legal counsel, Mr Bin Hammam refused to speak with Investigative Counsel working for the FIFA ethics committee, but expressed his willingness to co-operate with and appear before the FIFA ethics committee.
"Also through his legal counsel, Mr Bin Hammam provided some documents, but refused to provide his banking records for review and said that requested telephone records do not exist. The lone banking record provided was proof of a wire transfer from Mr Bin Hammam to the CFU on April 28, 2011, in the amount of 363,557.98 US dollars."
That sum was to cover the cost of the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) delegates' travel and accommodation to a special meeting in Trinidad, which Bin Hammam had agreed to pay.
Seven associations from the CFU have told investigators they were offered or accepted cash gifts of 40,000 US dollars in a room in the Hyatt Regency hotel on May 10 after Bin Hammam had made a presentation about his campaign to be FIFA president.
A witness from an eighth association said he avoided entering the room once he learned that cash was being offered there. A witness from a ninth association, Aruba, did not enter the room and expected a subsequent wire transfer of funds.
The Freeh report will be the basis for next week's FIFA ethics committee hearing involving Bin Hammam and two officials from the CFU, Debbie Minguell and Jason Sylvester.
Jack Warner, the FIFA vice-president who was charged along with Bin Hammam, will not face the ethics committee after FIFA dropped the investigation into him following his resignation from football activities.
Neither Warner nor Bin Hammam, nor Minguell and Sylvester, co-operated with the investigation, according to the inquiry team.
The Freeh report says witnesses stated Warner told the 25 CFU associations on May 11 that Bin Hammam had provided the cash gifts.
"Several witnesses advised that Mr Warner stated that the cash had originated with Mr Bin Hammam and the cash was given to them at Mr Warner's suggestion, instead of a more formal gift, such as silver or a plate," the report says.
It continues: "There is no direct evidence linking Mr Bin Hammam to the offer or payment of money to the attendees of the Trinidad and Tobago meeting. However, there is compelling circumstantial evidence, including statements attributed to Mr Warner, to suggest that the money did originate with Mr Bin Hammam and was distributed by Mr Warner's subordinates as a means of demonstrating Mr Warner's largesse.
"Indeed, the funds were offered to attendees shortly after Mr Bin Hammam's campaign speech."
The Freeh report says FIFA should consider charging CFU general secretary Angenie Kanhai after she provided a letter to the Puerto Rican association "explaining the purpose of the cash, so that the attendee could provide an explanation about the origin of the cash to Customs and to the bank". That letter has been sent to the FIFA ethics committee as evidence.
The report also raised questions about Simpaul Travel, a travel agency connected to the Warner family, being used to provide the transport and accommodation for the CFU delegates.
"The involvement of Simpaul Travel in the logistics of the Trinidad and Tobago conference raises the issue of whether Mr Warner may have been the beneficiary of related parties' transactions," the report says.
Chuck Blazer, the FIFA member from the United States who first blew the whistle on the scandal, told the investigators that he discussed the 360,000 US dollar cost of the Trinidad conference with Angenie Kanhai.
The report states: "According to Mr Blazer, Ms Kanhai said that she had developed the budget and then 'doubled the budget at Jack's request'."
The evidence accompanying the report also includes a copy of the sheet on which Louis Giskus, the president of the Surinam FA, wrote down the serial numbers of the bills he received in Trinidad.
Surinam and Puerto Rico still have the money in their accounts while they wait for instructions on what to do with it.
The Grenada Football Federation have already spent all but 1,000 dollars of the 40,000 dollars they received, investigators were told.
Bin Hammam did not respond when invited to comment.
So essentially the candidate that put himself out as the 'face of change and transparency' in FIFA is blocking any investigation and not co operating at all with the inquiry.
Brilliant, sums up the FIFA hypocrisy really.
---------- Post added 17/07/2011 at 12:50 PM ---------- Previous post was 15/07/2011 at 06:54 PM ----------
Lucky Chuckie! Blazer takes secret 10% on sponser deals
FIFA official Chuck Blazer from New York, the ‘Mr Clean’ who turned whistleblower and forced his colleague Jack Warner out of the game, secretly trousered nearly $2million in “commissions” from football marketing deals last year.
The previous year was even more lucrative for Mr Blazer. He took $2,622,714 in 2009 and over the last five years has paid himself $9.6 million in bonuses on top of his pay as general secretary of Concacaf, the confederation of footballing nations in the Caribbean, central and North America.
The accounts of the 35-nation Concacaf are marked ‘private and confidential’ and not made public. The commissions are listed – but not who gets them. Blazer, whose remuneration is also confidential, signs and presents the accounts to the confederation’s annual conference.
In late May Blazer reported Warner for his role in what appears to be a $1 million plot by Qatar’s Mohamed Bin Hammam to bribe Caribbean nations to support him in the battle with Sepp Blatter for FIFA’s presidency. Warner hurriedly quit FIFA and Bin Hammam will learn his fate later this month. Two other members of FIFA’s executive committee are also under investigation.
There is still shock that Blazer turned against Warner. He sat next to Concacaf president Warner for two decades, appearing to ignore the endless scandals, especially Warner’s industrial-scale World Cup ticket rackets.
Blazer helped install Warner in power at Concacaf in 1990 and in return was appointed general secretary. Blazer’s contract specified that he was hired from one of his private companies, Sportvertising, subsequently domiciled in the Cayman Islands. This company would receive Blazer’s never disclosed salary and crucially, 10% of ‘all sponsorships and TV rights fees from all sources received by Concacaf.’ According to documents obtained by Transparency in Sport, Blazer's payments were channelled offshore to accounts in the name of Sportvertising at Barclays Bank, Grand Cayman, and the First Caribbean International Bank, Bahamas.
‘A majestic symbol of elegance’
Blazer is both chief executive and treasurer, flouting most accepted concepts of good governance. Concacaf’s other officials are seen as weak and in effect the two men have controlled regional football. Blazer says his football hero is former FIFA president João Havelange, ‘a majestic symbol of elegance in our sport.’ Havelange is currently being investigated by the IOC after BBC Panorama alleged that he took a $1 million bribe from a marketing company.
Warner is also president of the Caribbean Football Union, part of Concacaf, and only weeks before the bitter split, happily instructed the usually cash-strapped CFU’s bank to issue a $250,000 bank draft to Blazer.
Concacaf vice-president Lisle Austin from Barbados has attempted to fire Blazer but been turned away from their headquarters in Trump Tower, New York by private security. Blazer, in his mid-sixties, lives in a Trump Tower apartment with his parrot Max and girlfriend Mary Lynn. He is so broad of girth that he cannot fit into the largest of FIFA’s executive saloon cars and has to be transported in a luxury van.
The American press, hopeful that the USA can win control of the Concacaf region, writes admiringly of Blazer, who sports a flowing white ‘Cap’n Birdseye’ beard, as a Father Christmas style character who is ‘gregarious and witty’ and dines in New York’s best restaurants.
During a FIFA marketing dispute in a Manhattan court five years ago the judge ruled that Mr Blazer's testimony was ‘generally without credibility based on his attitude and demeanour and on his evasive answers on cross-examination.’ The judge added that some of his testimony was ‘fabricated.’
Yesterday Mr. Blazer confirmed that he does indeed take these commissions from Concacaf.
Chuck Blazer has literally 'commissioned' from CONCECAF 2 million dollars a year for the years we even know about. So average that by at least 1 million for the 21 years he has been a senior official at CONCECAF...21 million is what they are estimating he has pillaged from the funds.
This is the guy who is one of 'the good guys', most surprising thing for me is that NONE of the UK press are running this, FIFA continues to amaze me and I personally never trusted Blazer glad my instincts have proven right.
