An Argentine accountant described on Wednesday how he "handled the payment of millions of dollars in bribes" to former South American football officials, including former FIFA VP Julio Grondona, according to Claudia Torrens of the AP. Eladio Rodriguez, who kept track of finances and bribe payments at Argentine sports marketing company Torneos y Competencias, "testified for hours" in N.Y. Rodriguez said that it was necessary to pay bribes "to maintain a good relationship with CONMEBOL and to obtain the signing of contracts." According to Rodriguez, Grondona was paid "at least" $3M in '13. Rodriguez has a deal with U.S. prosecutors and has "forfeited more than $600,000," he said (AP, 11/29). BLOOMBERG's Hurtado & Voreacos reported when U.S. authorities "shocked" the football world by making corruption arrests in Switzerland in May '15, Rodriguez, "a key bag man," disappeared. His whereabouts "remained a dark mystery" for the next two-and-a-half years, "sparking rumors and fears that he was secretly helping prosecutors." Rodriguez offered jurors "an insider's account of a scheme that ran for more than two decades" (BLOOMBERG, 11/30).
