By Mark Baber
February 8 – Former president of the South American Football Confederation and former FIFA vice-President Eugenio Figueredo has agreed to hand over more than $10 million in stocks and property in a deal to reduce his punishment, according to Uruguayan prosecutor Juan Gomez.
Figueredo was arrested in Zurich in May and as part of a US investigation into the taking of bribes from sports marketing companies in exchange for selling media and marketing rights for football tournaments and matches across the Americas.
Figueredo was extradited to Uruguay after Swiss prosecutors said he would face a wider range of charges in that country, and according to Gomez, he has acknowledged he has committed crimes and has been cooperating with prosecutors in providing details of individuals and companies involved as well as in revealing details of his assets.
According to Gomez: “He reached a deal, as mandated under the law, which includes handing over 12 or 13 properties plus bank accounts and rights to shares he had invested in.”
The properties include nine that were reported to have been seized in June 2015 (then assessed as being worth $5 million) as well as further holdings in Montevideo and Punta del Este so that, according to Gomez: “We can say the total is more than $10 million.”
According to the prosecutor the deal could help Figueredo reduce his potential jail time by up to half the maximum 15 years sentence.
Figueredo, aged 83, is currently imprisoned in the Central Jail in Montevideo,and has been keen to be released on house arrest which is a right given to defendants over the age of 70. According to Gomez: “There is an agreement for house arrest. That is a right of the person and at some point the system will consider it.”
The properties seized, which represent a significant sum for Uruguay’s Forfeited Assets Fund, will be administered by Uruguay’s National Drug Board. Figueredo’s wife, in whose name some of the assets were being held, has claimed that she was approached by an unknown party in a Montevideo shopping mall and threats were issued unless her husband co-operated with police.
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