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FIFA's Valcke Linked To Questionable Payment, Moving Money Trail Closer To Sepp Blatter
Federal authorities believe that FIFA Secretary General Jerome Valcke made $10M in bank transactions that are "central elements of the bribery scandal engulfing international soccer," according to sources cited in a front-page piece by Rashbaum & Apuzzo of the N.Y. TIMES. Because Valcke is FIFA President Sepp Blatter’s top lieutenant, this "puts the money trail closer" to Blatter than "had been previously known." The sources said that Valcke is the "unidentified 'high-ranking FIFA official' who prosecutors say" transferred $10M in '08 "from FIFA to accounts controlled" by former CONCACAF President Jack Warner. The payment is "a key piece of last week’s indictment" accusing Warner of "taking a bribe in exchange for helping South Africa secure the right to host" the '10 World Cup. The indictment "does not say that the high-ranking official knew that the money was being used as a bribe," and Valcke is "not identified as a co-conspirator in the document." Valcke, who "said in a brief email that he had not authorized the payment and did not have the power to do so, has not been charged or accused of wrongdoing." But Rashbaum & Apuzzo note his involvement is "sure to raise more questions" about what Blatter "knew about the money transfer" ( <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/02/sports/soccer/sepp-blatters-top-fifa-deputy-jerome-valcke-is-said-to-have-transferred-money-central-to-bribery-case.html" target="_blank">N.Y. TIMES, 6/2</a> ).
