In the FIFA bribery probe, a U.S. federal court overturned the convictions of a former Fox executive and a South American sports media and marketing company, citing a May ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court in a case involving a staff member of former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo.
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On March 9, Hernan Lopez, the former CEO of Fox International Channels, and the advertising firm Full Play Group SA were found guilty on one count each of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering in connection with the Copa Libertadores club competition.
In a 55-page ruling released on Friday night, U.S. District Judge Pamela K. Chen, who presided over the trial in federal court in Brooklyn, granted a motion for innocence. In May, the Supreme Court overturned Joseph Percoco's conviction for wire fraud conspiracy, concluding that the jury instructions were unduly ambiguous.
District Judge Pamela K. Chen stated, “The Supreme Court’s latest wire fraud decisions, especially Percoco and the absence of precedent applying honest services wire fraud to foreign commercial bribery, requires this court to find that the statute does not criminalize the conduct alleged in this case and that therefore the evidence at trial was insufficient to sustain defendants’ convictions under that statute”. She even stated, “Defendants’ convictions for money laundering, predicated on their honest services wire fraud convictions, also cannot be sustained. The court therefore grants defendants’ motions to acquit on all counts of conviction.”
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Following a U.S.-led investigation into FIFA and international football, dozens of individuals have either admitted guilt or been found guilty. When U.S. authorities claimed that football federation leaders had tarnished the sport for almost 25 years by accepting $150 million in bribes and payoffs, the investigation went public. Fox Corp., which separated from an international channel unit in 2019 as part of a restructuring, was not indicted and has denied any participation in the bribery scandal.
