April 14 – Two former 21st Century Fox Inc. executives have been released on $15 million bail after pleading not guilty for their alleged roles in the FIFAgate scandal.
Hernan Lopez, former chief executive of Fox International Channels, Carlos Martinez former president of Fox Latin America, were both indicted earlier this month for alleged payments to Conmebol officials in exchange for broadcast and marketing rights.
Fox held the rights for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups and both were also charged with paying bribes to win lucrative US broadcasting rights, and of wire fraud and money laundering offenses and trying to acquire “confidential bidding information”.
Sports marketing company Full Play Group SA, which also is charged with racketeering, also pleaded not guilty.
Judge Pamela Chen ordered both officials to surrender their passports and imposed 10pm to 6am curfews. Lopez resides in Los Angeles, Martinez in Miami.
Martinez is a citizen of the US and Mexico and Lopez of the US and Argentina. The latter had apparently asked to stay free on $500,000 bond but that was deemed too little.
“I do believe here that there is an incentive to flee depending on how the case proceeds,” Chen said.
While prosecutors called Lopez a substantial flight risk, they did not demand he be jailed.
“It doesn’t appear realistic that anyone’s going anywhere,” Chen said during the arraignment, which was conducted by phone because of the coronavirus pandemic.
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