Costas Takkas, a former general secretary of the Cayman Islands Football Association pleaded guilty to a money laundering conspiracy in connection with the U.S. bribery investigation involving FIFA, the international governing body of soccer.
Takkas was one of 40 other individuals and organizations charged for making more than $200 million in bribery payments and kickbacks to soccer officials, in exchange for marketing and broadcast rights.
Takkas was specifically suspected of receiving and routing $3 million in bribes for Jeffrey Webb, a former FIFA vice president and president of CONCACAF (Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football), as well as the rights awarded during the qualifier matches for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups. It was arranged for Traffic USA to secretly route the money through front companies to Webb.
Takkas will be sentenced on September 19, and face at most 20 years in prison with three years on probation and a $500,000 fine. Prosecutor, Kristen Mace, believes Takkas should be sentenced to four years in prison and when his sentence is complete, he will be deported back to the U.K.
Webb will remain under house arrest in Georgia until his hearing in July.
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