NEW YORK (AP) – When Chuck Blazer answered the phone at his Trump Tower apartment, his pet macaw Max could often be heard squawking in the background.
The former FIFA executive committee member and U.S. soccer power broker has been out of sight for more than two years, but he is suddenly making a lot of noise that is shaking up the sports world.
When indictments were unsealed Wednesday charging nine soccer officials and five other men with racketeering, money laundering and wire fraud related to bribes and kickbacks stretching back more than two decades, the U.S. government revealed Blazer pleaded guilty 1 1/2 years ago. Prosecutors also announced two sons of former FIFA Vice President Jack Warner pleaded guilty.
Information from the three men appears to have been central to the Justice Department’s soccer corruption investigation, linking other soccer officials in the Americas to a series of schemes. Much of the money passed through U.S. banks, giving federal officials the power to go after offenders from around the world.
“All of these defendants abused the U.S. financial system and violated U.S. law,” Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch said.