Fox
International Channels no longer exists as an entity. In 2016, Fox separated its Latin America operations. In 2018, Disney purchased the businesses.
Also charged in the new indictment
former Imagina Media Audiovisual CEO Gerard Romy and Uruguayan sports marketing company Full Play. The indictment includes charges of wire fraud and money laundering. The charges against
Romy and Full Play allege racketeering conspiracy. Attorneys for Lopez and Martinez said the
indictment "alleges nothing remotely improper" and was "nothing more than stale fiction."
“The profiteering and bribery in international soccer have been deep-seated and commonly
known practices for decades,” William F. Sweeney Jr., assistant director in charge of the FBI’s New York field office, said in a statement. “Over a period of many years, the
defendants and their co-conspirators corrupted the governance and business of international soccer with bribes and kickbacks, and engaged in criminal fraudulent schemes that caused significant harm to
the sport of soccer. Their schemes included the use of shell companies, sham consulting contracts and other concealment methods to disguise the bribes and kickback payments and make them appear
legitimate.”
Indictment: Copa Libertadores Schemes
73. At various
times in or about and between 2005 and 201 , Alejandro Burzaco and the defendants HUGO JINKIS, MARIANO JINKIS, FULL PLAY, HERNAN LOPEZ and CARLOS MARTINEZ, together with others, agreed to pay, did pay
and facilitated the concealment of annual bribe and kickback payments to certain high-ranking CONMEBOL officials, including Luis Bedoya, Carlos Chavez, Rafael Esquivel, Sergio Jadue, Jose Maria Marin
and Juan Angel Napout, as well as to the defendants MANUEL BURGA, LUIS CHIRIBOGA, MARCO POLO DEL NERO, EDUARDO DELUCA, EUGEN10 FIGUEREDO, JOSE LUIS MEISZNER, ROMER OSUNA and RICARDO TEIXEIRA, in
exchange for the officials' support of the rights to the Copa Libertadores and other soccer events.
74. The defendants HERNAN LOPEZ and CARLOS MARTINEZ, together with
others, relied on loyalty secured through the payment of bribes to certain CONMEBOL officials in connection with the Copa Libertadores to advance the business interests of Fox beyond the Copa
Libertadores, including by obtaining confidential information from Co-Conspirator #1 regarding bidding for the rights to broadcast the 2018 and 2022 World Cup tournaments in the United
States.
Thanks for covering this. The Fox corporate reorganization ("Fox International Channels no longer exists as an entity") is interesting. In most white collar crime cases, prosecutors will target individuals too, as they did here.