The South American Football Confederation (Conmebol) recovered $ 130 million (around € 110 million) which had been illegally embezzled by some of its former leaders and members of national federations convicted of corruption, she said. announced Friday August 27.
“Great triumph against corruption”, wrote the Conmebol on its site presenting the results after the last delivery of 71 million dollars (60 million euros) from the United States justice this week in the framework of the corruption scandal of FIFA . “The recovery of funds seized in an irregular manner is part of an action carried out since 2016, when Alejandro Dominguez took the presidency”, recalls the Conmebol.
Swiss and American justice in action
In 2020, an external audit report on this corruption scandal had established that the Conmebol had seen more than 140 million dollars evaporate, or approximately 128 million euros. He estimated that, between 2000 and 2014, the former presidents of the confederation Nicolas Leoz (1986-2013) and Eugenio Figueredo (2013-2014), had transferred “Tens of millions [de dollars] to third parties “, during“Suspicious transactions”.
In addition to the funds sent by the United States Department of Justice, the South American Confederation has also already recovered funds from the Swiss courts and from the heirs of its former president Nicolas Leoz (died in 2020), from which it received just over $ 16 million (€ 13.5 million).
In 2020, the American and Swiss prosecutors had respectively ordered the return of some 550,000 dollars (466,000 euros) and 38 million dollars (32 million euros) from accounts opened by Nicolas Leoz and his former secretary general, Eduardo Deluca. . In total, the funds from the accounts of these former leaders amount to more than 56 million dollars (47.5 million euros).
“These funds returned to Conmebol will be used to support projects linked to the development of South American football”, argued the Confederation. And to add: “The Conmebol ceased to be perceived by American justice as an entity violating the law and began to be regarded as an organization victim of fraud and various illicit acts. “