Fifa boss ‘stole aid for dying’
EX-Fifa vice president Jack Warner has been accused of diverting aid for Haiti earthquake victims to his private account.
None of the £490,000 has been traced, it is alleged.
FORMER Fifa vice-president Jack Warner has been accused of diverting aid bound for Haiti earthquake victims.
Warner, 72, visited the island in 2010 following the disaster which killed more than 200,000 people.
The Trinidad and Tobago football chief, who is now at the centre of a £100million FBI football corruption probe, was given £490,000 from Fifa and the Korean Football Association to help rebuild the country.
But documents obtained by the BBC show he asked for the money to be paid into his private bank account labelled “personal use”. None of it has been accounted for.
Warner is on bail in Trinidad after being indicted by the US Justice Department over allegations of racketeering, wire fraud and money laundering spanning 24 years.
He is accused of pocketing a separate £6.5m payment from the South African government to vote for the nation to host the 2010 World Cup.
A total of 75 bank accounts in Mr Warner’s name are under investigation. He denies all the allegations.
Fifa secretary general Jerome Valcke, 54, yesterday insisted he was not involved in any wrong-doing over the 2010 bid, despite the emergence of an email suggesting he knew about the £6.5m payment.
It was also announced that Fifa is suspending the bidding over the 2026 World Cup while the corruption probe continues.
And Swiss prosecutors seized computer data from Fifa’s Zurich HQ including records from president Sepp Blatter’s private office.