Of all the revelations packed into the federal indictment in May of FIFA officials and sports marketing execs -- including bribery, fraud and money laundering -- "one detail received little attention: Some of the men charged own property in the United States, and the government plans to seize it," according to Rebecca Ruiz of N.Y. TIMES.
Federal prosecutors "have identified 13 such properties," with estimated values ranging from less than $70,000 to more than $1M, according to records. Some "serve as second homes to officials, while others have been primary residences for unsuspecting tenants." Aaron Davidson, who is accused of paying bribes to Jeffrey Webb, a former FIFA VP, is the owner of a $1.1M apartment on Brickell Key, "a gated island in Miami." Webb "has multiple properties in the United States, including four in Georgia that are subject to seizure."
For the government, "they make tangible targets." Mark V. Vlasic, a lawyer with Madison Law & Strategy Group, said, "It’s easier to go after physical assets in the U.S. than it is to go after offshore bank accounts. It’s very difficult for real property to evaporate. It’s not going to travel through electronic wires to different countries." In neighborhoods of Miami far less affluent than Davidson’s, eight properties "are also in the sights of the federal government." They "were formerly owned by Rafael Esquivel, the head of Venezuela’s soccer federation, and now belong to distinct holding companies." Federal officials involved with the investigation, which has been led by the Internal Revenue Service, the United States attorney’s office for the Eastern District of New York and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, "declined to comment Tuesday" (N.Y. TIMES, 7/22).
