Opinion ID: 4543021
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Indictments and Arrests

Text: In May 2015, a grand jury in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York handed down an indictment charging nine CONCACAF and CONMEBOL officials, including Marin, and five executives from sports marketing and media companies, with, among other things, racketeering conspiracy, wire fraud and wire fraud conspiracy, and money laundering and money laundering conspiracy. United States v. Webb et al., No.15-cr-00252 (E.D.N.Y. May 20, 2015), ECF No. 1, App. at 42. The charges in the 47-count indictment arose out of the bribery schemes connected to the tournaments in violation of various laws of the United States. On May 27, 2015, Marin was arrested by Swiss authorities while he was in Zurich for FIFA-related meetings. United States v. Webb et al., No.15-cr00252 (E.D.N.Y. Aug. 6, 2018), Letter in Support of CONMEBOL's Request for Restitution, ECF No. 968 at 6, App. at 1541. By the time of his arrest, Marin had 23 received more than $3 million in payments in connection with the Copa América, Copa Libertadores, and Copa do Brasil schemes.13 Napout, who by that time had begun serving as CONMEBOL's president, was not named in the original, May 2015, indictment. In the weeks following the filing of that indictment, he undertook efforts to hide the evidence of his involvement. United States v. Webb et al., No.15-cr-00252 (E.D.N.Y. Oct. 17, 2017), Sealed Memo. & Order Granting Gov't Mot. for Partially Anonymous and SemiSequestered Jury, ECF No. 717. He hired an attorney to represent him in his personal capacity and instructed the attorney to hire another attorney — whom Napout had selected — to represent CONMEBOL. Id. at 3. Soon thereafter, Napout learned that he was a target of the U.S. government's ongoing investigation and instructed his personal attorney to enter into a common-interest agreement with CONMEBOL's attorney in an effort to shield Napout from criminal liability by controlling the material that CONMEBOL would turn over to the government. Id. at 7–8. 13 See, e.g., United States v. Webb et al., No.15-cr-00252 (E.D.N.Y. Sept. 11, 2018), Judgment, ECF No. 1015 at 8, Gov't Special App. at 16 (ordering forfeiture in the amount of $3,335,593). 24 On November 3, 2015, after five months of incarceration in Switzerland, Marin was extradited to the United States and released here on bond. On November 25, the government filed a superseding indictment charging all but three of the original defendants, along with sixteen additional officials of CONCACAF and CONMEBOL, including Burga and Napout, with participating in the racketeering, money laundering and wire fraud conspiracies. United States v. Webb et al., No.15-cr-00252 (E.D.N.Y. Nov. 25, 2015), Sealed Indictment of, inter alia, José Maria Marin, Juan Ángel Napout, and Manuel Burga, ECF No. 102, App. at 48–49. On December 3, 2015, Napout was arrested also while in Zurich for FIFArelated meetings. By that time, Napout had, like Marin, received more than $3 million in bribes in connection with the Copa América, Copa Libertadores, and Paraguayan World Cup qualifying matches. 14 Later that day, the CONMEBOL attorney who had been hired by Napout after the first group of officials were arrested in May, entered Napout's CONMEBOL office, and, acting pursuant to Napout's instructions, removed a computer that Napout knew contained material 14 See, e.g., United States v. Webb et al., No.15-cr-00252 (E.D.N.Y. Sept. 4, 2018), Judgment, ECF No. 1008 at 8, Gov't Special App. at 8 (ordering forfeiture in the amount of $3,347,025.88); see also Gov't App. at 400 (Peña Ledger listing payments made to Napout). 25 relevant to the government's investigation, including evidence of Napout's relationship with defendants charged in the original indictment and evidence that he had accepted bribes. United States v. Webb et al., No.15-cr-00252 (E.D.N.Y. June 22, 2018), Memorandum & Order Regarding Post-Trial Motions, ECF No. 952 at 28–29, Special App. at 88–92. Several weeks after his arrest, Napout was extradited to the United States by Swiss authorities and, upon arrival, released on bond. A year and a half later, on June 14, 2017, after most of the defendants charged in the superseding indictment pleaded guilty to the charges, some of them having cooperated with prosecutors and investigators, the government filed a second superseding indictment naming only three defendants: Burga, Marin, and Napout. S.S.I., App. at 170–227. This second superseding indictment contained seven counts:
racketeering conspiracy in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1961(1) and (5).
honest services wire fraud conspiracy arising out of the Copa Libertadores tournament, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1349.
26 laundering conspiracy arising out of the Copa Libertadores tournament, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1956(h).
wire fraud conspiracy arising out of the Copa do Brasil tournament, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1349.
conspiracy arising out of the Copa do Brasil tournament, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1956(h). 6. Count Six charged Marin and Napout with honest services wire fraud conspiracy arising out of the Copa América tournament, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1349. 7. Count Seven charged Marin and Napout with money laundering conspiracy arising out of the Copa América tournament, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1956(h).