KICKED BACK TO JAIL

FIFA scandal father & son are cuffed

A FATHER-AND-SON pair of defendants charged in the FIFA corruption case turned themselves in Thursday in Argentina, where their lawyer promised to fight their extradition to the United States.

Hugo and Mariano Jinkis are accused of paying bribes and kickbacks to soccer executives to secure lucrative marketing rights for their company, Full Play. They are among 14 men charged with wire fraud, money laundering and racketeering conspiracy in a 162-page indictment unsealed in the Eastern District of New York last month. They are being held by federal police in a Buenos Aires jail, according to Argentine media reports.

“They have presented themselves in conformity with the law,” attorney Jorge Anzorreguy told reporters.

Anzorreguy represents 70-year-old Hugo Jinkis; Mariano Jinkis, 40, has a separate lawyer.

The Jinkises are accused of using international bank transfers to send bribes to soccer officials who awarded them television rights to tournaments worth hundreds of millions of dollars. The indictment suggests that U.S. prosecutors tape recorded at least one of the meetings in which they allegedly plotted their schemes.

The duo were among six men whose photos and descriptions were disseminated two weeks ago by Interpol. On Thursday they were escorted in handcuffs from the courthouse where they surrendered to police and were taken to jail. Anzorreguy

said the two men will be detained while the judge in the case decides on their fate. Seven other defendants are in the custody of Swiss police following a wave of arrests on May 27. Two other defendants, Nicolas Leoz and Aaron Davidson, are under house arrest in Paraguay and Miami. Alejandro Burzaco turned himself in last week in Italy, and Jack Warner of Trinidad was released after a brief jail

stay.

Only one defendant, Jose Margulies of Brazil, remains at large. On Tuesday, his attorney told Reuters that Margulies was in his home country. Margulies is accused of operating companies that served as intermediaries for millions of dollars’ worth of bribes.

“He used the services of currency dealers, he regularly shredded records of his activities and he discouraged soccer officials who were receiving payments from using accounts in their own names lest they draw attention from law enforcement,” the indictment says, “though they did not always heed

his advice.”

REUTERS Argentine businessmen Mariano Jinkis (c.) and his father Hugo (l.) are taken away by Interpol police in Argentina after turning themselves in for their roles in the FIFA scandal, and now face extradition to the U.S.