More than a dozen people have been indicted in the U.S. investigation into corruption at international soccer’s governing body, FIFA. But one former FIFA leader with South Florida connections is emerging as the scandal’s poster boy.
Jack Warner is a former FIFA vice president and a member of parliament in Trinidad and Tobago. And if mounting allegations against him in the FIFA corruption scandal are true, he’s also destined to be called one of the most corrupt men in the Caribbean.
Warner, who owns a home in Miami, faces extradition to the U.S. on charges involving millions of dollars in bribery and fraud schemes. The BBC reports this week that in one especially disturbing case, the FBI believes Warner embezzled $750,000 FIFA donated to Haitian earthquake victims. On Wednesday the Trinidad Express reported Warner is the focus of $1.2 million in alleged bribes to fix a FIFA election.
Warner’s two sons, who are Miami residents, recently pleaded guilty to similar U.S. accusations. But Warner, who has threatened to reveal an "avalanche" of corruption involving other FIFA officials and corporate sponsor executives, denies the charges against him – and he points to an Onion News article that calls his case a U.S. political plot. The only problem: Onion is a satirical news site.
