Related Federal Cases
- Bank of America, Mortgage-Backed Securities Fraud, North Carolina 2013 · New York
- Bank of America, Mortgage-Backed Securities Fraud, North Carolina 2013 · New York
- Bank of America, Mortgage-Backed Securities Fraud, North Carolina 2013 · New York
- Bank of America, Mortgage-Backed Securities Fraud, North Carolina 2013 · New York
- Bank of America, Mortgage-Backed Securities Fraud, North Carolina 2013 · New York
Bank Julius Baer Admits Laundering Over $36 Million in FIFA Case
BROOKLYN, NY – Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd. (“BJB” or “the Bank”), a Swiss bank with international operations, admitted today in federal court in Brooklyn that it conspired to launder over $36 million in bribes through the United States to soccer officials with the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) and other soccer federations. These bribes were in furtherance of a scheme in which sports marketing companies bribed soccer officials in exchange for broadcasting rights to soccer matches.
The Bank has entered into a three-year deferred prosecution agreement with the government in connection with a criminal information filed today in the Eastern District of New York charging the Bank with conspiring to commit money laundering. As part of this agreement, the Bank has agreed to pay more than $79 million in penalties (including a fine of $43,320,000 and forfeiture of $36,368,400) to resolve the investigation into its involvement in a money laundering conspiracy that fueled this international soccer bribery scheme.
Jorge Luis Arzuaga, a former BJB relationship manager who worked in the Bank’s Montevideo, Uruguay and Zurich, Switzerland offices, pleaded guilty in June 2017 for his role in this conspiracy and was sentenced by Judge Pamela K. Chen to three years’ probation in November 2020.
Mark J. Lesko, Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, Nicholas L. McQuaid, Acting Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, William F. Sweeney, Jr., Assistant Director-in-Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office (FBI), and Ryan L. Korner, Special Agent-in-Charge, Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation, Los Angeles Field Office (IRS CI), announced the agreement.
“BJB and its employees facilitated bribes and its compliance department turned a blind eye to glaring red flags of money laundering,” stated Acting U.S. Attorney Lesko. “This Office will hold accountable those corporations or individuals that use the American banking system for corrupt ends. As today’s resolution makes clear, financial institutions that become complicit in their clients’ efforts to launder illicit funds face significant penalties.”
“Today’s resolution sends a strong message to all banks and other financial institutions that if they knowingly misuse our financial system to hide their clients’ criminal proceeds or to promote a corrupt scheme, they will be held to account,” stated Acting Assistant Attorney General McQuaid. “From the time of the first FIFA-related indictment, the Department has promised to hold accountable the financial institutions involved in this global criminal scheme. We are delivering on that promise.”
Bank Julius Baer pursued the profit it could make laundering corrupt funds derived from a criminal scheme run by powerful FIFA officials,” stated FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge Sweeney. “Their behavior has earned them the equivalent of a red card, and the money the bank now owes the U.S. government is more than double what it admits to laundering. The FBI operates globally with our international partners, and our message to those who may be looking to profit from similar schemes is simple – the penalties for this type of play are steep. Stay within the rules.”
“Bank Julius Baer aided corrupt FIFA officials in laundering over $36 million. Banking officials that are a conduit for criminal activity undermine their own profession and the health of our financial system,” stated IRS CI Special Agent-in-Charge Korner. “The Bank’s admissions show that IRS Criminal Investigation will relentlessly pursue corruption across borders, including financial institutions that facilitate or conceal criminal activity. This should put other banks on notice that aiding in corruption will cost you millions.”
According to admissions in the statement of facts, from a 2012 FIFA World Cup qualifying match, sports marketing companies paid bribes to officials of the CONCACAF soccer federation in exchange for broadcasting rights to the match.
Key Facts
- State: New York
- Category: Financial Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
ðŸâ€Â’ Get the grimiest stories delivered weekly. Subscribe free →
MORE FEDERAL CRIME NEWS
Financial CrimesFinancial CrimesFinancial CrimesFinancial Crimes