FIFA probe: First banks admit money laundering role

NEW YORK (AP) — An Israeli bank and its Swiss subsidiary agreed to pay over $30 million for their role in conspiring to launder more than $20 million in kickbacks to soccer officials, the first financial institutions implicated in the FIFA scandal to reach a resolution with U.S. prosecutors.

Bank Hapoalim BM in Israel and its wholly owned Swiss company Hapoalim Ltd. agreed to forfeit $20.73 million and pay a fine of $9.33 million as part of a non-prosecution agreement, the U.S. attorney’s office in Brooklyn said Thursday. The scheme took place through the banks’ Miami branch from 2010-15, with many of the payments tied to marketing rights for the Copa America.

Eugenio Figueredo, a former president of the South American governing body CONMEBOL and Uruguay’s federation, was among those accused of receiving the bribes along with Luis Bedoya, a former president of Colombia’s federation and like Figueredo a onetime member of FIFA's executive committee.

Former federation presidents Sergio Jadue of Chile and Rafael Esquivel of Venezuela also were implicated by the U.S. Justice Department, along with Jose Luis Chiriboga, whose father, Luis, was president of Ecuador’s federation.

Bank Hapoalim (BHMB) and Hapoalim Ltd. (BHS) reached a deal with the Justice Department and the U.S. attorney’s office in which they and BHMB subsidiary Hapoalim (Latin America) SA will not be subject to prosecution for any of the crimes admitted in the deal, except for criminal tax violations. No bank employees involved in the illegal activities were identified by name.

“This announcement illustrates another aspect in the spider web of bribery, corruption and back-room deals going on behind the scenes as soccer games were played on the field,” William F. Sweeney, assistant director-in-charge of the FBI’s New York field office,...