FIFA Conspiracy Not An FCPA Case

The FIFA corruption scandal, which led its recently re-elected president Sepp Blatter to say this week that he would resign, has been widely reported to be an FCPA enforcement action, but it’s not, according to The FCPA Professor blog. Its recent post, which also provides a link to the indictment, points out that the alleged conspirators are said to be bribe recipients, not bribe payers, the class of misconduct primarily covered by the FCPA. “Rather the individuals were charged with racketeering conspiracy, wire fraud, money laundering and certain defendants were also charged with tax evasion and obstruction of justice.” Thus far two companies and four individuals implicated in the investigation have pleaded guilty.