The former president of the Salvadoran Football Association, Reynaldo Vásquez, was extradited to EUnited States tried this Friday in the FIFA corruption scandal, and pleaded not guilty to a federal judge of NY.
Vásquez was charged by the judiciaryto the United States in December 2015 for violating the Law on Organizations Affected by Extortion and Corruption (RICO), set up to fight organized crime, as well as various bank fraud and money laundering offenses.
However, it was extradited to the United States only to be tried for the first organized crime crime, prosecutor Kristin Mace said during Vasquez’s first hearing before Brooklyn judge Pamela Chen, who was responsible for the mega-corruption scandal in FIFA.
In the virtual audience, Chen Vasquez asked whether he pleaded guilty or not. “The defendant pleads not guilty,” replied Gary Cutler, Vasquez’s attorney.
Cutler said he will soon propose bail terms so his client can wait for a trial in freedom.
But the Prosecutor Mace applied to the judgeIn any case, the defendant should be detained until then because he is facing a “very serious” charge “punishable by up to 20 years” and because he has links with a foreign country.
The Judge Chen agreed to the request by estimating that the accused “prepresents a flight risk, ” the next hearing noted on April 7.
The US Justice Department assures that Vásquez received bribes in exchange for television rights and marketing of the Salvadoran team’s matches, and for facilitating the team’s participation in friendly matches.
Just over a year ago in October 2019, FIFA he suspends Vásquez for life from all activities related to football.
In March In 2017, the leader in El Salvador was sentenced to eight years in prison for another crime: misappropriation of social security contributions of more than 200 employees, amounting to almost $ 400,000.
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The scandal known as ‘Fifagate’ that came to light by the United States in May 2015 uncovered a plot involving bribery of millionaires paid by sports marketing companies to football leaders in America in exchange for rights to broadcast and promotion of tournaments, including the Copa América and the Copa Libertadores.
In the context of the case that caused the head of the bureau to fall, Joseph Blatter, eThe US government has accused about 45 people and several sports companies of over 90 crimes and to pay or accept more than $ 200 million andn bribes.
From the near 45 suspects, five have died. A total of 26 pleaded guilty, and at least six of them have been convicted.
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Three se They pleaded not guilty and went to a historic trial in New York in late 2017: former Brazilian soccer boss José Marin and the former president of Paraguayan football and Conmebol Juan Angel NapouThey were found guilty and imprisoned, while former Peruvian soccer boss Manuel Burga was acquitted.
A dozen are still in their country, where they have been prosecuted by local law enforcement or are at large fighting extradition.