INTERPOL has issued Red Notices, also called international wanted persons alerts, for two former FIFA officials and four corporate executives who have been charged with racketeering, conspiracy and corruption.
The Notices were issued at the behest of the United States, whose Department of Justice indicted 14 individuals connected with FIFA for corruption.
The Red Notices do not constitute arrest warrants, but they inform country-members of Interpol that arrest warrants have been issued and request aid in identifying or locating the targets for arrest for extradition and prosecution purposes.
The targets of the Red Notices are Jack Warner, former FIFA vice president and CONCACAF president; Nicolás Leoz, a former FIFA executive committee member and CONMEBOL president; Brazilian businessman José Margulies; and Argentine businessmen Alejandro Burzaco, Hugo Jinkis, Mariano Jinkis.
Interpol’s actions follow the resignation on Tuesday of FIFA President Sepp Blatter, reelected to a fifth term on Friday and now facing investigation by the FBI. Blatter had not been indicted by the Department of Justice, but ABC News reports that investigators hope one of the indicted individuals flips on the FIFA president. ABC News quoted one source saying, “Now that people are going to want to save themselves, there’s probably a race to see who will flip on [Blatter] first.”
The case started with Swiss authorities arresting seven individuals in Zurich on May 27 after the DOJ had indicted the 14 people for corruption. The seven men arrested were Jeffrey Webb of the Cayman Islands, Eugenio Figueredo of Uruguay, Eduardo Li of Costa Rica, Julio Rocha of Nicaragua, Costas Takkas of Britain, Rafael Esquivel of Venezuela, and Jose Maria Marin of Brazil. Six of the seven men fought extradition to the United States. The U.S. had alleged that bribes “totaling more than $100 million” dated back to the 1990s .
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