ASUNCION, (Reuters) – Paraguayan state prosecutors yesterday raided the headquarters of South American soccer confederation CONMEBOL after a request for cooperation from U.S. justice officials probing corruption inside world soccer, the prosecution office said.
CONMEBOL lawyer Cristóbal Cáceres said the raid was linked to the case pending in the United States against former long-time confederation chief Nicolás Leoz, who was indicted for corruption and is facing extradition.
The raid sought documents detailing “business concessions and broadcasting rights for sporting events,” the prosecution office said in a statement. It was led by two prosecutors who specialize in money laundering and financial crimes.
U.S. indictments against 41 defendants, including senior soccer officials from South and Central America, include schemes that involved hundreds of millions of dollars in bribes and kickbacks sought for marketing and television rights to tournaments and matches.
“We are providing the documents that are being asked for,” Cáceres said, adding that “some of the documents pertaining to doctor Leoz are not here.”
The headquarters building is on the outskirts of Paraguay’s capital city, Asuncion, where Leoz, 87, has under house arrest since May, after being indicted.
Two other soccer bosses, a former president of Honduras and a former head of CONMEBOL, last month pleaded not guilty to U.S. charges they took bribes in exchange for media and marketing contracts.
