Honduran ex-president pleads guilty in NY

Yahoo – AFP, Jennie Matthew, 28 March 2016

Former Honduran president Rafael Callejas leaves the Brooklyn federal court in 

New York, March 28, 2016 after pleading guilty to charges of racketeering conspiracy

 and wire fraud conspiracy in connection with the FIFA corruption scandal (AFP Photo/

Kena Betancur)

New York (AFP) - Former Honduran president Rafael Callejas pleaded guilty in New York Monday to conspiracy to commit racketeering and wire fraud in connection with the FIFA corruption scandal rocking world football.

The 72-year-old, who has been free on a $4 million bail in the United States since leaving Honduras by private jet last December to face American justice, will be sentenced on August 5.

The two counts each carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in jail.

"Guilty," Callejas told Magistrate Judge Robert Levy in a federal court in Brooklyn, entering his plea. He spoke calmly in fluent English with a US accent, and was dressed in a dark suit.

Callejas served as president of Honduras from 1990 to 1994. He was head of the country's football federation from 2002 to 2015, and is also a former member of FIFA's Television and Marketing Committee.

He originally faced eight charges of racketeering, fraud and money laundering, to which he pleaded not guilty on December 15.

"I knew it was wrong," he told court Monday, admitting to receiving bribes for awarding media and marketing rights contracts to a Florida-based company for Honduran FIFA World Cup qualifier matches.

As part of his plea, he agreed to forfeit $650,000 -- $180,000 to be paid within one week and the balance due within 12 months.

He is one of 39 officials and marketing executives accused of soliciting and receiving tens of millions of dollars in bribes and kickbacks in a case that has sparked an unprecedented crisis at FIFA.

FIFA president Sepp Blatter looking on with fake dollars note flying around him thrown 

by a protester during a press conference at the football's world body headquarter's on 

July 20, 2015 in Zurich (AFP Photo/Fabrice Coffrini)

Extradition

US prosecutors accused Callejas of receiving $1.6 million in bribes between March 2011 and January 2013 for broadcast rights of games played by the Honduran national team.

They said Florida company Media World paid these bribes from its US bank accounts through an intermediary, to overseas accounts of Callejas and a co-conspirator.

Monday's plea brings to 14 the number of individuals to have pleaded guilty and agreed to cooperate with US prosecutors in the FIFA case in exchange for a possible reduction in sentence.

Callejas told the judge that he had been under treatment from a cardiologist and was currently taking medication.

Last Tuesday, Costas Takkas, the former Cayman Islands Football Federation general secretary, became the latest FIFA suspect extradited from Switzerland to appear in a New York court.

Takkas pleaded not guilty before Magistrate Judge Viktor Pohorelsky and was released on a $1 million bond with a $25,000 cash deposit, court documents show.

The 57-year-old accountant, who has British and Greek citizenship, will be confined to house arrest in Florida, allowed to leave only to see his doctors, lawyers, go to court or to attend religious services.

Takkas, who was born in Cyprus, was one of six FIFA officials arrested in May 2015 in Zurich at the request of US authorities.

The US judge granted him 60 minutes of exercise a day in a gym in the building of his Florida residence.

The US corruption investigation precipitated the downfall of longtime FIFA president Sepp Blatter and his former heir apparent, Michel Platini, who have both been banned from the sport for six years for ethics violations. 

FIFA scandal engulfs Blatter and Platini

Yahoo – AFP, Benjamin Simon, 25 Sep 2015

FIFA President Sepp Blatter (L) shakes hands with UEFA president Michel 

Platini after being re-elected following a vote in Zurich on May 29, 2015 (AFP 

Photo/Michael Buholzer)

Zurich (AFP) - The FIFA scandal on Friday engulfed Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini, the two most powerful figures in world football, with Swiss prosecutors investigating whether a two million dollar payment from Blatter to the French legend was illegal.

Swiss investigators opened criminal proceedings against FIFA president Blatter and searched his office as they also quizzed UEFA counterpart Platini.

"Swiss criminal proceedings against the President of FIFA, Mr. Joseph Blatter, have been opened on September 24, 2015 on suspicion of criminal mismanagement...and -– alternatively -– misappropriation," said a statement from Switzerland's attorney general's office (OAG).

Former FIFA vice-president Jack Warner

 arrives at the Port-of-Spain Magistrates 

court for the extradition hearing against

 him, on September 25, 2015 (AFP Photo/

Alva Viarruel)

Blatter, 79, is standing down because of corruption scandals involving other top officials and Platini had been favourite to win an election to be held in February to succeed him.

The Swiss prosecutor said that "the defendant Joseph Blatter" had been questioned and "the office of the FIFA President has been searched and data seized".

Blatter was questioned as "a suspect". The statement added that Platini had been questioned "as a person called upon to give information".

Platini, 60, has been head of UEFA since January 2007 which made him an automatic FIFA vice-president.

Blatter's lawyer Richard Cullen said in a statement that the FIFA boss was cooperating with Swiss authorities and that a review of the evidence would show "no mismanagement occurred".

Blatter "is suspected of making a disloyal payment of 2.0 million Swiss francs ($2.04 million/1.8 million euros) to Michel Platini, president of Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), at the expense of FIFA," the OAG said.

The alleged payment was made in February 2011 "for work performed between January 1999 and June 2002."

Later Friday, Platini insisted the payment had been for "contractual" work he had carried out.

"Concerning the payment that was made to me, I wish to state that this amount relates to work which I carried out under a contract with FIFA," said the UEFA boss.

"I was pleased to have been able to clarify all matters relating to this with the authorities."

FIFA this month suspended Blatter's right-hand man Jerome Valcke after he 

was accused of involvement in an accord to sell tickets for the 2014 World Cup 

at inflated prices (AFP Photo/Sebastien Bozon)

He added: "I also made clear to the Swiss authorities that since I live in Switzerland I am available to speak with them any time to clarify any matters relating to the investigations."

Friday's dramatic turn of events came after a press conference, that Blatter was scheduled to give, was cancelled.

Platini is a former Blatter ally who turned against the veteran Swiss sports baron over the past 18 months as FIFA's troubles mounted.

The investigation is also into Blatter's links with Jack Warner, a former FIFA vice-president now at the centre of a US investigation.

The attorney general said Blatter was suspected of making a deal "unfavourable to FIFA" with the Caribbean Football Union, which Warner used as his power base.

'Properly prepared'

According to Blatter's lawyer Cullen, who is based in Virginia, that contract was "properly prepared and negotiated" by FIFA staff with responsibility for such matters.

A Trinidad court on Friday announced that it would rule on December 2 on whether Warner should be extradited to the United States.

Warner is one of 14 soccer officials and business executives charged by US prosecutors of involvement in more than $150 million in bribes for football broadcasting and marketing deals.

Nearly all of the suspects are from central and South America. Until recent days, FIFA's top leadership had escaped accusations flying around the world body, which earns $5 billion from the World Cup.

Swiss officials arrested seven FIFA officials, who are among the US suspects, on May 27 in Zurich just ahead of the world body's congress.

Blatter was re-elected to a fifth term at the congress despite the storm but then announced on June 4 that he would stand down.

Since then FIFA has announced steps to make reforms but have been shaken by new corruption claims.

A TV crew prepares to film in front of 

the FIFA logo at the FIFA headquarters

 on September 25, 2015 in Zurich (AFP

Photo/Fabrice Coffrini)

FIFA this month suspended Blatter's right-hand man Jerome Valcke after he was accused of involvement in an accord to sell tickets for the 2014 World Cup at inflated prices.

Valcke strongly denied the allegations but FIFA handed over emails from the suspended secretary general that had been demanded by the Swiss attorney general.

He is also under suspicion over what he knew about a $10 million payment from the South African FA to an account controlled by Warner through FIFA in 2008.

US prosecutors believe it was a bribe intended to get Caribbean support for South Africa's bid for 2010 World Cup.

Swiss prosecutors are also looking into FIFA's award of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups to Russia and Qatar, respectively. Both have strongly denied any wrongdoing in their campaigns to secure the tournaments.

US attorney general Loretta Lynch made it clear this month that her department's inquiry was growing and more major charges could be expected.

From Blatter to Webb: Key players in the #FIFA scandal pic.twitter.com/uzwQ09Eeum

— Agence France-Presse (@AFP) 25 september 2015

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Argentine exec pleads not guilty in FIFA case

Yahoo – AFP, 31 July 2015

A photograph taken from the Wanted Persons link at
the Interpol site shows Argentinian sports marketing
executive Alejandro Burzaco who has been indicted
by US authorities in the FIFA corruption scandal 
on June 9, 2015 (AFP Photo)

New York (AFP) - An Argentine sports marketing executive on Friday pleaded not guilty and posted a $20 million bond after appearing in a US court to face charges related to the FIFA corruption scandal.

Alejandro Burzaco surrendered to Italian police in June before flying to New York to face US justice in a case that has rocked world soccer.

He is one of 14 FIFA officials and sports marketing executives accused of soliciting and receiving more than $150 million in bribes and kickbacks spanning 24 years.

US Attorney General Loretta Lynch unveiled the 47-count indictment in May.

Burzaco, 51, pleaded not guilty to three charges of racketeering, money laundering and wire fraud conspiracy and posted a $20 million bond for his release, underwritten by friends and family.

The defendant cut an elegant figure in the US federal court in Brooklyn, dressed in a dark suit, a pale blue tie and a crisp white shirt, and responded politely to the magistrate's questions.

Government prosecutors told Magistrate Judge Vera Scanlon that Burzaco was not considered a flight risk given that he had handed himself in overseas.

Burzaco's decision to surrender has triggered speculation he may be poised to negotiate a deal with prosecutors.

His lawyer made no comment after leaving court.

The assets put up to guarantee the $20 million bond offered a breathtaking insight into the wealth that the dual Argentine-Italian citizen has accumulated, and the trust of close friends and family.

$15 million company share

They include cash deposits of $3.3 million, to be made by October 1, three properties in the United States owned by his sister and a close friend.

It also included Burzaco's 20 percent ownership of a company -- a share estimated to be worth more than $15 million.

Among the six relatives and friends underwriting his bond were a sister with an annual income of $300,000 and a net worth of more than $1 million and a friend with an estimated net worth of more than $10 million.

Burzaco's ex-wife, who was also in court, had flown from Buenos Aires to support him, his lawyer told the magistrate.

Among conditions of his release are that he live in an FBI-approved residence within 50 miles of the court.

He must surrender his passports to the FBI, submit to electronic tagging and restrict his movements to New York and Long Island.

On July 18, former FIFA vice president Jeffrey Webb also pleaded not guilty in connection with the same scandal.

Arrested in Switzerland in May, he was the only one not to fight extradition.

The Cayman Islands-British citizen posted a $10 million bond and was ordered not to stray further than 20 miles of the courthouse.

Asian logging companies 'use British islands for tax dodging'

Calls for crackdown as investigation finds huge Indonesian corporations evading tax through network of secret shell companies in British Virgin Islands and other tax havens

The Guardian, The Observer, John Vidal, environment editor,  Saturday 10 May 2014

In the British Virgin Islands it is easy to set up shell companies, which makes
them popular with companies and the wealthy. Photograph: Neil Rabinowitz/Corbis

Giant Asian logging companies that make billions from destroying rainforests use a labyrinth of secret shell companies based in a UK overseas territory, the British Virgin Islands (BVI), which operate as a tax haven, according to documents seen by the Observer. The 13 companies own millions of acres in Indonesia, provide much of the world's palm oil, timber and paper, and use complex legal and financial structures to keep their tax liabilities low.

An unpublished two-year investigation by anti-corruption experts, and seen by the Observer, says Britain should launch a major investigation into the use of the BVI and other tax havens by "high-risk" sectors such as Indonesian forestry. This follows a court case in Jakarta in which one of the world's largest palm oil companies, owned by billionaire Sukanto Tanoto, was fined US$205m after being shown to have evaded taxes by using shell companies in the BVI and elsewhere. The company has agreed to pay the fines.

Documents arising from the case show that Tanoto's company, Asian Agri, systematically produced fake invoices and fake hedging contracts to evade more than $100m of taxes.

According to evidence contained in more than 8,000 papers, the company, which employs 25,000 people in 14 subsidiaries and owns 165,000 hectares of plantations, was engaged in "routine and systematic fraudulent accounting and book-keeping practices" using British jurisdictions.

It is easy to set up shell companies in the BVI, and this makes them a favourite destination for Asian corporations and individuals. A cache of leaked documents obtained by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists showed last year that nine of Indonesia's 11 richest families had used tropical tax havens.

Although there are legitimate uses for offshore companies, critics say tax havens fuel corruption and allow corporations and individuals to dodge taxes. "Powerful forest and palm oil conglomerates have set up shell companies in the BVI, Cayman Islands and Bermuda, but lack of transparency – including public access to the names of the actual owners of shell companies – makes it difficult for governments to monitor the legality of their activities," said Stephanie Fried of Ulu Foundation, a US organisation that tracks international financial flows. "Clearly, a full international investigation is needed not only by Indonesian authorities, but also by those in the BVI, the UK and other jurisdictions."

A government spokesperson said: "The government put tax and transparency at the heart of the UK's G8 presidency. As a result, the UK's overseas territories are consulting on establishing a central registry of beneficial ownership and on whether it should be publicly accessible. We believe a registry of this kind would provide the best outcome for sound corporate behaviour and for helping authorities, including those in developing countries,prevent misuse of companies for illicit purposes." 

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-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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Wealthy in China need new tax haven as Switzerland U-turns on banking privacy - New
Offshore tax-dodging piece shows anti-Chinese bias: report
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Leaks reveal secrets of the rich who hide cash offshore

Cayman Islands and Costa Rica agree to share bank account details with US

The alleged tax havens have signed agreements with the United States to tell the IRS about funds held offshore by Americans

theguardian.com, Reuters in Washington, Friday 29 November 2013

The Cayman Islands will turn over details of Americans' offshore accounts to US
tax authorities. Photograph: David Doubilet/National Geographic/Getty Images

The United States has signed agreements with the Cayman Islands and Costa Rica to help those countries' banks comply with an anti-tax evasion law starting next year, the Treasury Department said on Friday.

The deals are part of the US effort to enforce the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), which was enacted in 2010 and is set to take effect in July 2014. FATCA requires foreign financial institutions to tell the US Internal Revenue Service about Americans' offshore accounts worth more than $50,000. It was enacted after a Swiss banking scandal showed that 17,000 US taxpayers had hidden substantial fortunes overseas. On Thursday a former UBS banker, Raoul Weil, agreed to be extradited to the US to face charges arising from that scandal.

With these two deals, both signed this week, the Treasury has now finished 12 FATCA "intergovernmental agreements" (IGAs), which help countries' financial institutions comply with the law.

The FATCA agreement with the Cayman Islands was initially agreed to in August. The island territory of 53,000 people has no income tax and is frequently labelled as a tax haven by critics. It is one of the world's most popular destinations for investment funds to organise for tax purposes.

Costa Rica was one of three Central American countries the Organisation for Economic Development and Co-operation (OECD) has tagged as a tax haven. Panama and Belize were the other two. Significantly, the Costa Rica deal is reciprocal, meaning the Costa Rican government can get tax information about its citizens with assets in the United States.

The trading of financial information, though not part of the Cayman Islands deal but included in many of the other 11 FATCA agreements, has rankled US banks. In April, the Texas Bankers Association and the Florida Bankers Association, both industry groups, filed a lawsuit attempting to block a Treasury Department rule that would allow the IRS to send certain bank account information to foreign governments.

The case, filed in the US district court for the District of Columbia, is awaiting a judge's ruling on whether the bankers' associations have standing.

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Biggest tranche of information ever received by HMRC contains 400GB of information on offshore tax evasion

guardian.co.uk, Press Association,  Thursday 9 May 2013

The Cook Islands, a dream holiday destination for some, a tax haven for
others. Photograph: Alamy

A fresh crackdown on offshore tax evasion has been launched after HM Revenue and Customs said it had received data showing extensive use of schemes to hide assets.

HMRC is working with the United States and Australia to analyse 400GB of data showing the use of tax evasion schemes via companies and trusts in territories around the world including Singapore, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands and the Cook Islands.

It is understood to be the biggest tranche of information ever received by HMRC about offshore tax evasion and has so far identified more than 100 people who are benefiting from these tax evasion schemes, with a number of individuals already being investigated.

HMRC has also identified more than 200 UK accountants, lawyers and other professional advisers who advise on setting up these structures who will also be scrutinised.

It is calling on anyone using offshore tax schemes to seek advice to ensure they are not breaking the law, which can result in criminal prosecution, hefty fines and possible naming and shaming.

The chancellor, George Osborne, said: "The message is simple: if you evade tax, we're coming after you.

"The government has invested hundreds of millions of pounds to fund the fight against tax evasion, both at home and abroad. This data is another weapon in HMRC's arsenal."

The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants said while it welcomed moves to clamp down on tax evasion, "we should never lose sight of the fact that it is a small number of people who are evading tax in these markets".

Chas Roy-Chowdhury, head of taxation at ACCA, said: "The majority of accountants, lawyers and other professional advisers, as well as their clients, are not breaking any laws in these locations.

"There is a large gulf between what amounts to tax avoidance, which is within the law, and tax evasion, which is illegal."

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Deutsche Welle, 14 April 2013

Six major EU countries are set to increase the pressure on tax havens. At their meeting in Dublin, finance ministers announced an initiative against tax fraud and creative tax avoidance inspired by the US.

Pressure is growing on so-called tax havens, situated in the Caribbean and in Europe. At the meeting of European Union finance ministers in Dublin, six major EU member states, France, Britain, Italy, Poland, Spain and Germany presented a new initiative against tax evasion and tax avoidance.

In the future, the six countries plan to automatically exchange all relevant data on capital income with each other. That will enable fiscal authorities to collect taxes more easily from taxpayers who invest money in the EU.

The sudden momentum came from across the Atlantic, according to British Finance Minister George Osborne, who was responding to a reporter's question in Dublin.

"We actually have a new international standard emerging," he said. "With the countries represented here taking it up and using it as the basis of a multilateral European system, we're turning what was a bilateral US agreement into something approaching a global standard, which we want to obviously see promoted in Europe, but also more widely than that."

Osborne's statement referred to the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), passed in the US in 2010, which is applied by an increasing number of countries worldwide in bilateral agreements with the US – among them Germany and Luxembourg. Under FATCA, those who don't pass on relevant data of potential American tax evaders to the US authorities are consequentially banned from doing business in the US. And since the US is the world's most important financial center, most countries and their banks have no choice but to accept FATCA.

 Austrian Finance Minister Maria
Fekter was on the defensive

Austria putting up resistance

Even Switzerland, famous for its banking secrecy, has adopted FATCA in a bilateral agreement with the US. But there has been criticism, with the Swiss daily newspaper the Neue Zürcher Zeitung speaking of a "tax diktat" by the big power, the United States.

The largest EU countries now want to adopt automatic data exchange as a standard for Europe. The last country to put up open resistance was Austria. In Dublin, Finance Minister Maria Fekter of the conservative party ÖVP called it an "attack on banking secrecy."

Banking secrecy has deep traditional roots in Austria and is anchored in the constitution. The proposed data exchange, she criticized, would lead to a "graveyard of data." "It's better to tax at the source," said Fekter. Austria does just that, deducting a tax at the source on returns on interest – in an anonymous way.

Luxembourg's Finance Minister Luc Frieden also criticized the initiative brought forward by the big six. "They want the small EU countries to just follow suit," Frieden said. Nevertheless, on Saturday (13.04.2013), three medium-sized EU member states, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Romania, also decided to join the initiative.

But Austria looks set to give in to pressure from the US, and seems likely to begin negotiations on adopting FATCA. Austria will try and push for an agreement similar to the one Switzerland has adopted, one which doesn't impose an automatic data exchange, so that the anonymity of bank depositors remains somewhat protected.

Brits put pressure on Cayman Islands

In Dublin, Britain's finance minister announced that the new transparency will also apply to tax havens in Britain's sphere of influence.

"First of all the Crown dependencies, the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man and so on: we have in the past couple of weeks concluded automatic exchanges of information, which are based on the US model, based on the model that we are adopting amongst ourselves here," said Osborne.

"With the overseas territories, like the Cayman Islands and the British Virgin Islands, we are in advanced stages of discussions. But I think they are in no doubt about what we expect of them."

The Cayman Islands - beautiful beaches
and an attractive tax system

People who want to evade taxes, Osborne added, should know that the hiding places are becoming few and far between.

Limit creative tax avoidance

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble stressed that the initiative of the six major EU countries isn't limited on returns on interest. It will also be applied to all forms of capital income by companies. In the future, systems that encourage creative tax avoidance, currently legal and present in many EU member states such as Luxembourg and Ireland, will also come under scrutiny.

"When the International Monetary Fund has its spring meeting in Washington next week, we will continue our efforts on a global level," he said. "We want to fight tax evasion through data exchange and we want to fight tax avoidance that happens when someone uses different tax systems or even tax havens. I believe a global movement is emerging, that will find the support of all Europeans."

But not all EU member states agree. Luxembourg benefits from direct investment by US companies, for example, which settle in the Grand Duchy because they benefit from the limited tax burden there, a prime example being online retailer Amazon.

'Surge in appetite' for stricter rules

At the moment, the EU member states are in competition with each other because of such legal tax avoidance systems. Countries like Cyprus were a popular destination for companies to register low-taxed subsidiaries, so-called letterbox companies. In the future, that system should lose its appeal, said Polish Finance Minister Jacek Rostowski in Dublin.

Schäuble said the IMF will continue
the efforts on a global level

Rostowski explained that Poland has tried to attract big international companies for many years. He wants the multinationals to tax the profits where they make them: in Poland. "As a host country we're always concerned about a reduction of the base for tax. We can only fight tax avoidance in cooperation with other states," he said.

EU Tax Commissioner Algirdas Semeta has urged member states to finally adopt the EU's Savings Directive that was negotiated in 2008. In Dublin, he said he could now see that happening over the coming weeks. But he warned that all questions concerning tax policy require a unanimous vote by all member states.

"The surge in the appetite of member states for progress and action in the fight against evasion is extremely welcome," said Semeta, seemingly surprised by the initiative launched by the six big countries. And yet, it's still up to the member states themselves to determine their tax systems and their tax rates.

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