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The New York appeals court found the acquittal of the parties involved in the FIFA corruption scandal had been on erroneous conditions.
FIFA. (AFP Photo)
Argentine sports-marketing firm Full Play and former 21st Century Fox executive Hernan Lopez, who had been acquitted on appeal over their conviction in the FIFA corruption scandal in the year 2023 after a judge cited precedent from a US Supreme Court ruling, had their convictions reinstated by a US appeals court on Wednesday.
The New York appeals court found the acquittal had been on erroneous conditions, as it cited a misreading of the stipulations around federal wire fraud.
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“We hold that the district court erred in concluding that defendants’ conduct did not fall within the scope of Statute 1346,” the Second Circuit Court of Appeals ruling said.
“Therefore, we vacate the district court’s judgments, remanding the case for further proceedings pursuant to this opinion”.
Lopez and Full Play’s case was one of several that emerged from the 2015 probe by the US Justice Department, which rocked FIFA and the continental confederations for South and North America.
The US investigation, which included raids on FIFA officials in Zurich, led to a series of arrests, trials, and subsequent charges, convictions, and guilty pleas.
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In March 2023, Lopez and Full Play were found guilty on charges of wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy.
Lopez faced up to 40 years in prison and millions of dollars in penalties, while Full Play was expected to face millions of dollars in fines.
Before the convictions of Lopez and Full Play, the court heard that the main beneficiaries of the kickback scheme were six of the most powerful men in South American football.
These included former CONMEBOL president Nicolas Leoz, who died in 2019, former Argentine football executive Julio Grondona, who died in 2014, and former Brazilian football chief Ricardo Teixeira.
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