Arrested FIFA Exec Facing Property Forfeiture

(ATR) FIFA vice president Jeffrey Webb may have to give up four properties in the state of Georgia as a result of his recent indictment.

His home in Loganville, Georgia is one of 13 properties named in the indictment against several FIFA officials and sponsors that could be seized by the United States government following a conviction.

Jeffrey Webb owns a $750,000 home in the suburbs of Atlanta. Webb, president of CONCACAF, is one of the nine FIFA officials indicted by the U.S. Department of Justice.

Webb was arrested on Wednesday in Zurich, Switzerland while staying in a hotel before the 65th FIFA Congress began on Thursday. He and thirteen others were taken into custody by Swiss authorities on charges of racketeering, obstruction of justice, money laundering and wire fraud.

After the arrest, those detained have indicated they will fight the extradition process to the United States.

According to former IOC director general Francois Carrard, the process of extradition could last a long time.

"I think that this is a process which is subject to review by the Swiss Supreme Court. So it’s not just matter-of-fact, we have to look very seriously and if people oppose it may last weeks or months even in some situations," Carrard tells Around the Rings.

Following a successful extradition, Webb and the other FIFA officials would be transferred to the United States to stand trial for the alleged crimes. In the indictment, Webb is named as being involved in corruption schemes to sell media and marketing rights for CONCACAF tournaments.

According to the indictment, Webb received bribes and kickbacks totaling over $6 million for guaranteeing media and marketing rights to sports marketing companies such as Traffic USA.

These agreements were made between former Traffic USA president Aaron Davidson and an unnamed co-conspirator. The conspirator is said to have asked for bribes for the marketing deals at the request of defendant Costas Takkas, an associate and CONCACAF attaché of Jeffrey Webb.

The indictment describes the money laundering process between Traffic USA and Jeffrey Webb. The indictment alleges the money was wired from Traffic USA to a front company, then to an account controlled by Takkas named Kosson Ventures in the Cayman Islands, birth place and primary residence of Jeffrey Webb.

Once in accounts controlled by Takkas, he proceeded to wire the money to a swimming pool builder in Blairsville, Georgia for the benefit of Webb. At that same time, Webb was having a swimming pool built at his Loganville residence.

The Loganville home and three other Georgia properties owned by Webb were specifically identified in the indictment at risk of forfeiture by the defendants if found guilty. Two properties are in Stone Mountain, with the third residing in Conyers. The total combined value of the properties is approximately $1.1 million.

The two Stone Mountain properties and Conyers property are owned by Kosson Properties Limited, a company name closely resembling the company accounts controlled by Takkas. The U.S. Department of Justice says these properties were purchased using funds received directly from bribes.

If for any reason the properties cannot be forfeited to the government, Webb would still be responsible to relinquish assets equaling the total value of the properties.

Written by Kevin Nutley

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