NEW YORK – FORMER FIFA vice president Jack Warner has been ordered to pay US$75 million by a New York court in a football bribery scandal.
The Associate Press (AP) is reporting that US District Judge William Kuntz ordered the default judgment against Warner in the 2017 civil action where his is accused of embezzling tens of millions of dollars from the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF).
The ruling was made in federal court in Brooklyn yesterday after Warner failed to contest the claim.
The football association “intends to pursue all available avenues to enforce the judgment in any jurisdiction where Concacaf has reason to believe Mr. Warner may have assets,” plaintiff lawyer John Kuster said in a statement today.
Warner, 76, is a defendant in a sprawling criminal investigation that has resulted in convictions of several top soccer officials.
There was no immediate response Wednesday to an email sent to one of his lawyers, AP stated.
The suit accused Warner and Chuck Blazer, another football official who died after it was filed, of negotiating bribes and kickbacks in connection with lucrative broadcasting rights for tournaments including the confederation’s Gold Cup championship.
AP noted that allegations in the suit also mirrored criminal charges saying that Warner, while he and Blazer were members of FIFA’s executive committee, took a $10 million payment to influence voting on which country should host the World Cup.
Warner, who lived in his native Trinidad, is currently fighting extradition proceedings to the US to answer charges arising out the football scandal.
His sons, Daryll and Daryan, pleaded guilty to fraud charges in the criminal case in 2013 as part of a cooperation deal, AP said.
They are both out on bail with travel restrictions within the US and are awaiting sentencing, AP stated.
