Swiss blow whistle on Fifa

BERLIN: Swiss banks have reported suspicious activity on the accounts of world football governing body Fifa, Switzerland’s attorney-general said yesterday.

Federal prosecutor Michael Lauber said at a press conference in Bern that banks had reported 53 possible cases of money laundering and his office was also analysing a “huge amount” (nine terabytes) of seized data.

Switzerland is currently investigating how Fifa came to award the World Cups of 2018 and 2022 to Russia and Qatar respectively in December 2010. Domenico Scala, the chair of Fifa’s audit and compliance committee, has previously said the bidding process for the World Cups could be reopened if votes were found to have been bought.

Lauber said he would not risk endangering the investigation by giving details to the public which could lead to the destruction of evidence, but, given the interest in the case, would pass on what details he could.

“I set up a tailor-made task force,” he said. “The head of the office of the attorneygeneral’s white-collar crime division leads this task force.

“You find in that task force specialised and experienced prosecutors, experts in mutual legal assistance and a specialised forensic IT team from the federal criminal police. Following the tactical needs of the investigation, the task force will be focused or extended.”

It was Fifa in November 2014 that began the investigative process by filing a criminal complaint against “persons unknown” in which it cited itself as the injured party.

Fifa submitted the report made by its own special investigator, Michael Garcia, into the bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups to Lauber. The Garcia investigation lasted two years, hampered by the fact he could not compel witnesses to be interviewed or subpoena evidence.

In a separate investigation led by US authorities, several officials, including former Fifa executives, were previously arrested or facing extradition proceedings on various charges of corruption.

“The Swiss investigations are executed independently from the prosecutions of our US colleagues,” Lauber stressed. “Therefore, documents and data of our Swiss investigation will not be shared automatically with the US counterpart.”

Fifa president Joseph Blatter has promised to resign his office in the scandal-hit organisation when an extraordinary general meeting can be held late this year or early next year to elect a replacement.

Lauber did not exclude interviewing Blatter or Fifa general secretary Jérôme Valcke during the course of the investigation.

However, he warned that football fans expecting a quick resolution to the affair were likely to be disappointed.

“We are facing a complex investigation with many international implications,” he said. “The prosecution is ongoing and will take time.

“The world of football needs to be patient – by its nature, this investigation will take more than the legendary 90 Minutes.”