The Jack Warner Thread.

[Tallman]

Jack Be Nimble
By Orville Taylor (Jamaica Gleaner)

"FIFA fo fum! I smell the blood of a Trini Man." It is another epic fairy tale but it is literally going to be a Grimm brothers' story that doesn't look like it is going to have a happy ending. Like a long African river, our beloved football icon of CONCACAF, Austin 'Jack' Warner, has lived in denial about his involvement in any shady deal regarding football.

A few years ago, when anchor of football Jamaica, Captain Horace Burrell, dodged the bullet and escaped with a slap on the wrist over improper payments, Warner brushed off all aspersions. Warner was defiant, and, although no spring chicken himself, even found time to throw a jab at former prime minister and president of the Premier League Clubs Association, Edward Seaga. His dinosaur reference, though uncharitable, was all the stranger because I have known of Warner since I was in university, and he was no boy even then.

Warner seemed to have developed a reputation for untouchability, and a few labelled him the 'Teflon Don'.

Reality is now hitting him in his face like a shot from Messi or Kaka, but he has to finally face the referee and possibly give up a penalty before the fans. On Wednesday, reports surfaced that Swiss police had arrested a number of FIFA officials. Looking rather surreptitious, all were in that country and apparently at the most convenient time for their arrest and charge.

FLATFOOTED
 
As the newsrooms reeled under the information, the offices of CONCACAF in South Florida were being raided. American representatives to CONCACAF were carted away and rumours surfaced about the arrest of Warner, after his successor was named among those nabbed in Switzerland. Of course, being in Trinidad at the time, Warner rebuffed the report and said that he had walked away from football more than four years earlier and was dedicating himself fully to his political career and service to the people of his country.

Yet within hours, the don was flatfooted by revelations that his own two sons had already squealed like two pigs in a poke and delivered sealed confessions to the American authorities from as far back as 2013. If ignorance is bliss, the incredulity of Warner as he stuttered in surprise must have debunked this old adage.

Before he regained his fluency, proceedings were long begun in pursuance of an extradition request from the American government. Doubtless he was totally innocent until proven guilty, but his claim of being oblivious rings like an "I can't recall" a few years ago, when another West Indies party, sharing similar lettering, as his Independent Liberal Party (ILP), was faced with the extradition of another don.

Hours later, Warner had posted bail, as the Kamla Persad-Bissessar government seemed not to have any intention of delaying or seeking the assistance of any American law firm to thwart proceedings. Truly, man hath a short time before he faces final judgement.

Now, we know that Warner did have associates in Jamaica and those of us who like local pastry are keeping our fingers crossed that nothing untoward is going to arise from the dough we have here. Our nationalism is not simply capped in half-baked accusations and kickbacks.

Nonetheless, a question that arose in the debacle which ended with the extradition of Christopher 'Dudus' Coke, a few years ago, was, "How come America can charge and get extradition for a person who has not committed a crime on American soil?" The explanation is simple: The US Congress has passed laws that allow it to have jurisdiction outside of its borders, as long as it can be remotely shown that what it defines as a crime (whether or not defined as a crime elsewhere) has had some impact on that society.

SOBERING LESSON

Thus, Coke had been accused of shipping drugs into the United States, a crime to which he confessed. With the increase in the global movement of capital, the US has enacted more legislation to protect its financial borders, and where there is any portion of what it deems as ill-gotten gains, passing through its financial system. Hence, where kickbacks and other inducements for corruption are channelled through American banks, it triggers all of the powers under the legislation and Uncle Sam can send for whomever it considers to be perpetrators.

This is the sobering lesson for us all on this little piece of rock. It might be strange that the United States, which narcissistically plays its World Series of baseball among a number of teams from within its borders, and has its World Champions of basketball and its own version of football, has an interest in a global sport. Indeed, soccer is a growing sport in the USA but it is still a relatively minor sport there.

WELL OR POORLY TIMED?

One can only speculate why the investigation, which reportedly began years ago, has triggered arrests on the eve of the FIFA election in which Sepp Blatter is seeking another term as president - to hold on to the reins of the largest global sport body in the world. It is also well or poorly timed, depending on one's perspective, that it is leading up to the election period in Trinidad and Tobago.

Has anyone here thought that the Jamaican election is due in just over 18 months? So, in all of this furore as we focus on Warner, Blatter and others in this FIFAgate, I am wondering if any money, such as payments for the award of contracts to international bidders, clandestine campaign contributions, or any other improper monies, might have at any point found its way to or passed through the American banking system. Wouldn't it be interesting if any of the FINSAC money from the mid-1990s got mixed up with the red, white and blue?

Let the chips fall and see who is able to successfully jump over the candlestick.

[Tallman]

Karma, boy, karma
By Raffique Shah (T&T Express)

If, in what may be described as normal countries, a week in politics is a long time, in abnormal Trinidad and Tobago, a week can be likened to a lifetime. Last week, most scribes and commentators in the media engaged in heated exchanges over the latest bacchanal in the Integrity Commission.

Today, few remember what that furore was about or who the protagonists were.

The arrest, overnight jailing and legal action to have Jack Warner extradited to the US to face multiple fraud-related charges have, like a tornado, flattened and re-shaped the political landscape in a very fundamental way.

It's not that those who closely monitor politics and corruption (some might argue that that's redundancy) were taken unawares by the US Justice Department dragnet that spread from tiny T&T to shiny Switzerland last Wednesday, netting some very big fishes.

In fact, several investigative journalists-notably Mark Bassant and Lasana Liburd in Trinidad and Andrew Jennings in the UK-had all but written the script for the Mafia-style swoop that made headlines across the world.

In our case, though, Jack-in-the-box had an almost shattering impact.

Here was a man who straddled the country like a colossus, a veritable Prime Minister, albeit acting, a powerful Minister of National Security, and before that an emperor overseeing the Ministry of Works, being carted off to prison like a two-bit thief.

Until he resigned from Kamla Persad-Bissessar's Cabinet in 2013 (note well, he was not dismissed), he was seen as the most powerful person in the PP Government, some say even more powerful than the PM herself.

Never forget that on victory night in 2010, when she savoured the fist sip of power, before thanking God or the people or anyone else, Kamla thanked Jack not once or twice, but thrice.

I always wondered about that: did she thank him for conducting a campaign unparalleled in the nation's history?

Was it some obeah he performed that delivered an overwhelming victory?

Or was he pivotal to raising the tens of millions of dollars that the PP spent, money that flowed like water during that campaign and ever since?

We may never know the truth.

The Prime Minister remains estranged from it too often for us to believe her, and Warner's threats to "reveal all" remain hollow: not tonight, not any night.

What we do know as fact is that Warner's rags-to-riches story is a very curious one, and allegations of irregularities against him pre-date his entry into politics.

From as far back as 1973, when T&T's star-studded football team flogged Haiti on the field for a place in the 1974 World Cup finals, but lost the match through two officials who were later banned for life, the TTFA executive, on which Jack sat, did not file a protest.

And if that could be written off as a fluke, what of the fiasco of 1989 when, even if we had beaten the USA on the field, we risked being disqualified because of a dangerously overcrowded stadium and the vulgar over-selling of tickets for the game?

All of these misdemeanours took place before Jack and Basdeo Panday became tight as...'er, bosom buddies, and the latter plucked him from the murky fields of football and elevated him to the murkier arena of politics.

We know what followed: a safe UNC seat, riding partners on a FIFA executive jet to South Africa supposedly to have Nelson Mandela endorse the UNC (he did not), money flowing like water in a losing effort in the 2007 elections, and, as always happened with anyone who got close to Panday, estrangement, fight, cuss, break-up.

We also know the sequel, the making of Kamla, the joining of forces in 2010 that brought together my one-time comrades in labour and back-in-time brothers of the Black Power movement embracing so tightly, not even dollar notes could come between them.

There was one big, happy Fyzabad family that promised to deliver the nation from all evils-except that that never happened.

When things started falling apart, Jack still found refuge in the House of the Rising Sun ("...it's been the ruin of many a man...").

2011: US dollars being parcelled and shared like "parsad" at the Hyatt: bring me the evidence.

Soca Warriors players denied their bonuses from 2006: let the court decide.

Australia football body asking for accountability for half-a-million-dollar donation: deafening silence.

More dollars for earthquake-stricken Haiti disappear: dem reporters wicked.

But there is something called "karma", not to be mistaken for Kamla, which strangers to Hindi might find confusing.

Today, Jack is being called to account, and although the process between indictment, extradition, trial and a cell in some US jail is lengthy, it's almost ineluctable.

Strangely, I feel sorry him even though I've never met the man.

I guess it's because I know what prison is, which is why I've always counselled those who walk on the wayward side to "make jail when yuh young".

But Jack will not be the only person who, having supped with him, will pay the Devil. Others who portray themselves as pious even as they raid the Treasury, will also pay. Karma, boy, Karma.

[Tallman]

Humiliating the nation
By Martin Daly (T&T Express)

Jack Warner is innocent until proven otherwise.

He is entitled to say one zillion times and more that he is not guilty. But we must be concerned.

This squalid affair, massive and international, is humiliating Trinidad and Tobago.

The allegations against Warner are overwhelming and multifarious.

They are also quite plausible, given long standing allegations of endemic corruption in FIFA. Without good cause, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) would not charge Warner and others with racketeering, money laundering and wire fraud related to bribes and kickbacks stretching back two decades.

Then there is Chuck Blazer, CONCACAF's secretary under Warner who publicly made corruption allegations against Warner, pleading guilty and agreeing to forfeit to the US government about US$1.95 million which he had received in bribes, kickbacks and unauthorised World Cup ticket sales.

Also, as reported in the Express, we have Daryan Warner, Jack's son, pleading guilty to wire fraud conspiracy, money laundering and structuring, related to scalping tickets for the 2006 and 2010 World Cups; and another son Daryll, also pleading guilty to wire fraud and structuring in relation to obtaining a mortgage for a Miami condominium.

The report says the Warner sons appear to have provided information to the investigators.

The indictment revealed that whilst involved in FIFA business, Jack sent a relative to Paris to collect "a briefcase containing bundles of US currency in $10,000 stacks in a hotel room", in relation to bidding for the 2010 World Cup. Hours after arriving in Paris, "co-conspirator #14, a member of Warner's family", boarded a return flight and carried the briefcase back to Trinidad and Tobago, "where co-conspirator #14 provided it to Warner." According to the indictment, this was all part of an alleged bribery scheme which saw US$10 million paid to Warner. Very painful questions arise. Who is "co-conspirator #14, a member of Warner's family"? Did a father encourage his sons in criminal activity? The possibility of parental misguidance and irresponsibility is alarming.

We shouldn't also forget that in the case involving then Qatar FIFA executive Mohamed bin Hamman who was accused of bribing CONCACAF officials, the international Court of Arbitration for Sport, said: "Mr Warner appears to be prone to an economy with the truth. He has made numerous statements as to events that are contradicted by other persons, and his own actions are marked by manifest and frequent inconsistency."

And very telling too was the Fifa-appointed Integrity Committee report of Sir David Simmons which alleged that Mr Warner, in his roles as president of CONCACAF and vice president of FIFA, committed fraud against the two football bodies.

In the face of all this, is it fair to Trinidad and Tobago, to have this sordid spectacle of Jack Warner, one night in jail, the next day in the nation's Parliament, trying to shift attention from himself on to the Prime Minister, absurdly claiming it is she who jailed him and that he would have revenge telling 'all' about her?

What is this, a standpipe drama or what? Are we still uncouth villagers of the colonial era? Will we never have civilised norms in this country?

The world is watching. This has been termed the biggest news story in decades. Jack Warner is internationally known, long facing allegations that, as CONCACAF president and Fifa vice-president, he was at the heart of questionable activities in football's governing body. Therefore global eyebrows were raised when he was appointed Minister of National Security, to which Keith Rowley, as Leader of the Opposition, commendably objected, and foreign governments and international observers would have been dumbfounded that Warner acted as prime minister on several occasions. We must have been seen as a most unusual people when this man, ejected from the Cabinet, formed a political party, won the by-election in Chaguanas West and was thereafter lionised by the local media who sought his view on every topic under the sun including integrity and honesty in public life on which he held forth and made headlines over and over again.

Isn't it time to stop this national humiliation? Shouldn't Jack Warner be persuaded, for the country's sake, to stand aside from local politics until his name is cleared? Shouldn't we be spared the disturbing spectacle of Warner as a candidate in the coming elections?

It would be disrespectful to the citizenry and particularly insensitive to the children and young people if this individual, internationally indicted, traverses the nation during an election campaign aspiring to become the country's Prime Minister.

But then this is Trinidad, where swampland politics spreads.

We humiliate our nation.

[asylumseeker]

From the "Jack Be Nimble" article:

Now, we know that Warner did have associates in Jamaica and those of us who like local pastry are keeping our fingers crossed that nothing untoward is going to arise from the dough we have here. Our nationalism is not simply capped in half-baked accusations and kickbacks.

Mercy! Rather than ten points out of ten, I think this floury language is worth a Baker's dozen. Lick shot, Mr. Taylor!

[Flex]

Aussies want back $2.9m
By Camini Marajh (Express).

Senator writes US AG Lynch on stolen FAA funds

The controversial US$462,200 (TT$2.93 million) payment made by the Football Federation Australia (FFA) to former CONCACAF boss (the ruling football body for North and Central America and the Caribbean) Jack Warner in the run-up to the 2010 vote on World Cup hosting rights, was done through an international money transfer service based in the United Kingdom, a source close to the US corruption investigation into organised crime in world football has said.

Significantly, the September 16, 2010 cheque issued by Travelex Global Business Payments, to a US-dollar Concacaf account at Republic Bank in Port of Spain, does not identify the FFA as the source of funds and was paid by Travelex through correspondent bank, BNY Mellon (Bank of New York) located at the corner of Wall Street and Broadway in Manhattan's Financial District.

The US source, who spoke on condition of strict anonymity, told the Sunday Express that the payment documents associated with the FFA US$462K donation for a Trinidad stadium upgrade and which ended up in Warner's pockets, failed to disclose the FFA's identity as the source of funds.

Australia has spent about US$40 million on its failed bid to host the 2022 World Cup.

The source of funds declaration submitted on the Travelex/Republic Bank transaction erroneously identifies the source of the US$462,200 payment as "sponsorship from Travelex Global Business Payments," according to the source.

The US-dollar CONCACAF bank account which was controlled by the influential Caribbean football jefe and voting member of FIFA, the world governing body for football, was also used by Warner to conduct a slew of private transactions.

The April 18, 2013 CONCACAF Integrity Committee Report which made corrupt conduct findings against Warner, including fraud and misappropriation of money, also spoke about the theft of funds from the FFA.

"On or about September 23, 2010, the FFA provided US$462,200 to Concacaf to support the upgrade of the Marvin Lee Stadium at the Centre of Excellence. These funds were provided through Australia's Football Development Programme in connection with its 2022 FIFA World Cup bid," said the report.

The Sunday Express was told, however, that the Travelex-issued cheque was deposited into the Republic Bank account # 000211059222 on September 23, 2010 although the CONCACAF report talked about an FFA cheque.

The report said this about the transaction: "The funds from the FFA were provided by cheque made out to CONCACAF and deposited into a bank account maintained at Republic Bank, Trinidad."

"The funds, however, were not accounted for in the CONCACAF general ledger or reported as income in its financial statements for 2010. Although the Committee was unable to locate records evidencing how this money was spent, bank records show that Warner commingled his personal funds in the same account to which the FFA payment was deposited," said the Sir David Simmons-led Integrity Committee investigative report which accused Warner of systemic corruption and self-dealing during his 20-year reign of CONCACAF.

Frank Lowy, chairman of the FFA, was not immediately available for comment about the method of payment used by the Australian football association or why the payment documents identify Travelex and not the FFA as the source of funds or why the FFA would ignore Australia's large swathe of rundown stadiums to help Warner out.

And although FIFA's rules disallowed bid committees or any of their associations from giving gifts to FIFA officials or trying to influence the vote in any way, several bidding nations, including Australia, provided expensive gifts to the former high-flying FIFA executive and Member of Parliament for Chaguanas West.

As reported previously by this reporter, Bonita Mersiades, former corporate affairs manager of the FFA turned whistleblower, was instructed to buy a pearl pendant for Warner's wife Maureen after the bid rules were issued by the world football governing body.

"At the time I bought them I sent a note to my boss and to Frank Lowy more or less saying that I felt very uncomfortable buying this necklace at this time as it fell outside the FIFA guidelines. I don't consider a US$2,000 gift to be incidental but the reaction to the note was to be told not to write a note like that again," said Mersiades, in a 2014 interview with the Sunday Express.

Mersiades is among the growing list of prominent nationals to call on the Australian police for a criminal investigation into the theft of FFA's US$462,200 payment to Warner. Nick Xenophon, an Independent senator, has also asked for a police probe.

Following the dramatic arrests in Zurich on Wednesday, he told the Australian media that he has written to US Attorney General Loretta Lynch requesting that the US Department of Justice investigate the FFA payment made to indicted former FIFA official Warner.

"That US$500,000 was meant for upgrading sporting facilities in Trinidad and Tobago, not for Mr Warner's personal use. Australia deserves that money back ASAP," he said.

Lynch, in detailing the US$150 million bribery and corruption scheme involving top football administrators worldwide, argued that: "Bribe money takes soccer fields and balls away from kids in developing countries who were meant to be the recipients of FIFA's marketing and TV revenue."

The Sunday Express was told that shortly after the FFA payment disguised as coming from the European money transfer service, Travelex, Warner received another US$1 million payment in the same Republic Bank account from an entity identified as OAS African Investments Ltd.

The payment was made through a BVI (British Virgin Islands) account with a PO Box address.

There was another substantial BVI deposit, this one from Park House Capital Ltd, Offshore Inc, also for US$1 million, according to the source.

Warner has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and has blasted US authorities for what he described as malicious prosecution.

The US indictment which was unsealed on Wednesday revealed the alleged corrupt role Warner played in connection with his positions in FIFA, CONCACAF and myriad other football associations, including the Caribbean Football Union, LOC Germany 2006 Ltd and the national football federation which we reported has more than a $100 million missing in World Cup income.

And as reported in a special investigative series published in this newspaper, Warner used parallel bank accounts in the names of key football bodies to conduct cash raids of football money he controlled in a multitude of bank accounts.

The eight-count indictment against him details allegations of bribery, wire fraud and money laundering over more than two decades.

Jack comes out ‘swinging’
By Renuka Singh (Guardian).

‘The time has come for me to stop being coy...I’ll tell all’

Independent Liberal Party (ILP) leader Jack Warner is now a man with “nothing to lose” after spending a night at the Remand Yard prison in Port-of-Spain, on Wednesday.

Warner, in an interview with the Sunday Guardian, said his direct aim was at Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, even as his past association with football governing body, Fifa, could end up harming his own political career.

Warner has come out of his short prison stint swinging, telling the Sunday Guardian that his loyalty to Persad-Bissessar is over.

“I have nothing to lose anymore,” Warner said.

Warner has been the focus of widespread media reports since the US-based Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) arrested several high-ranking Fifa officials in Zurich, Switzerland, on Tuesday. Fourteen Fifa officials in total were held on corruption charges and criminal proceedings have opened relating to the award of the World Cups in 2018 to Russia and 2022 to Qatar.

Warner said the Prime Minister made “deliberate” attempts to embarrass him since his overnight detention, including reading out the list of charges against him into the Hansard records in Parliament on Wednesday.

“That was deliberate and totally unnecessary. Not once has the Prime Minister shown any reciprocity of the respect I had accorded her and even when I went to Parliament on Friday to add my explanation to the Hansard, I saw a minister trying to tell the House Speaker to shut me up,” Warner said.

“The time has come for me to stop being coy,” Warner said.

Since parting ways with the Government back in 2013 Warner had often threatened to reveal details of the inner workings of the Government under Persad-Bissessar, but always stopped short of actually disclosing the more salacious details he claimed to have on the People’s Partnership.

When asked why those details were only now being ventilated, Warner said despite the almost two-year fall out with the People’s Partnership, he still felt a sense of “collective responsibility” to the party.

“The Prime Minister, even after I left the Government, I felt no ill-will towards her. I felt that she was surrounded by people who did not have her best interest and she was taking bad advice so she still had my loyalty and my sense of collective responsibility. Now this no longer exists,” he said.

Back in 2013, Warner’s name was at the centre of allegations of financial mismanagement while president of Concacaf and vice-president of Fifa. He had already resigned from all football posts in 2011 amid revelations of a cash-for-votes bribery scandal involving fellow Fifa official Qatari billionaire Mohamed bin Hammam and members of the Caribbean Football Union, which Warner headed.

But while Persad-Bissessar had seemingly turned a deaf ear on previous calls for Warner’s dimissal, she could not ignore the Concacaf Integrity Committee’s detailed report in which Sir David Simmons presented findings with regards to allegations of million-dollar financial mismanagement by Warner and former Concacaf general secretary Chuck Blazer.

The committee met in Panama and returned with the findings that both Warner and Blazer were “white-collar thieves”.

Warner believes now that it is his previous hesitation that “lulled” Persad-Bissessar into a false sense of complacency.

“But I am very prepared to tell all now. In fact I have already handed over several documents to my lawyers and other lawyers that I trust just in case anything happens to me,” he said.

Warner said the reports of threats on his life were real and he had taken those precautionary steps.

Like many of his supporters, Warner is questioning the timing of the international raid and of his own arrest.

“It comes at a time when both Fifa and this country is facing an election and I think it is quite clear that I have been targeted by this Government because all of a sudden they are rushing to comply with the US,” he said.

“They are dancing a jig for a gif, rushing to be complicit with the same US they have been fighting in other extradition matters,” Warner said.

Warner scoffed at Persad-Bissessar’s claim that he did not contribute financially to her campaign.

“I have asked my accountant to pull together the documents; the proof is there,” he said.

Warner said he speaks with his two sons, Daryan and Daryl, every night and despite facing their own legal issues over this same Fifa matter, “they are in good spirits, they are OK.”

PM over Jack's statements: Slanderous and untrue.
By Carolyn Kissoon (Express).

"Slanderous and untrue".

That was how Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar yesterday described statements made against her by Independent Liberal Party (ILP) political leader Jack Warner.

And the statements have been placed in the hands of her attorneys, she said.

Persad-Bissessar said the allegations made by Warner at a media conference and on a poiltical platform were defamatory and totally untrue.

She was speaking to reporters at the Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha (SDMS) 170th Indian Arrival Day celebrations at Parvati Girls' Hindu College in Debe yesterday.

Persad-Bissessar said, "I did get a copy of what he actually said. I have placed his slanderous statements in the hands of my lawyers, there is absolutely no truth in the words I heard him speak on a press interview and from his platform."

Persad-Bissessar said she was not threatened by Warner's statements as her hands were clean and her heart pure.

"It is in the hands of my lawyers, the statements are totally untrue and go beyond being untrue but slanderous and defamatory. This matter is not about me. The predicament he has found himself in has nothing to do with me and therefore he should concentrate his defence with respect to the matters being brought against him."

She denied ever meeting with any contractor seeking finances for the party's 2010 election campaign.

And she was adamant that Warner did not fund her campaign.

Hear an excerpt from Jack Warner's cottage meeting

"I did not meet with the contractors as he said and ask them for money. I never received any money from Jack Warner. He has now gone on to make another allegation that he was present where I met contractors and said Miss (Stacy) Roopnarine was there and then he said it was after we opened the roads. So how could we be opening a road if we were in campaign for the 2010 election. We can only open a road after the election is completed," she said.

Asked if she was concerned by Warner's threats to release videos against her, Persad-Bissessar said he was simply ranting and raving.

"I am not worried at all. If you recall every single year and even before I became Prime Minsiter the gentleman has threatened. I don't see it as threats, I see them as ranting and raving. He has always threatened about having files. He then comes and says he has no files and now he says he has more files. I am not concerned about those," she said.

Persad-Bissessar also remarked on Warner's statement that the gloves were off, claiming that he will reveal information on her.

She said, "Some people say, but I am not of that view, they agreed that the gloves are off and he may be clearing the way for the handcuffs. I don't agree with that because a man is presumed innocent until proven guilty. He has all of the due process of law to go forward and prove his innocence."

Persad-Bissessar said when there were allegations about corruption among FIFA executives, including Warner, there was no evidence to fire him from the People's Partnership Government.

"But when there was evidence I acted. When the allegations turned into evidence with the David Simmons report I requested and received his resignation. I think I acted in good standing with respect to that matter," she said.

[Tallman]

Jack, 800 Years After Magna Carta
T&T Express

It would have been the beginning of wisdom if, over the course of his night without freedom, Jack Warner had begun to rethink the principles on which he had built a life of riches and power.

Despite an abundance of energy, intelligence and a certain folk hero charm, it has all come down to this. The meteor that soared to the heights of local and global power might now crash and burn itself out in a US jail. Depending on the quality of the goods he has on Kamla Persad-Bissessar and her cohorts, he might still kick up enough dust to suffocate their future. But what Trinidad and Tobago needs from Jack Warner right now is not revenge on a few but the truth about all. For this reason, we need him far, far more than the US does.

As T&T's most important power broker for the last decade and a half, this descendant of Anansi knows the real truth about T&T lurking under its veneer of casual beauty. Equipped with a good supply of lubricating cash, he oiled his way up and down, and in and out of every crevice of T&T. At his mercy, he has held men and women stripped to naked greed and begging for a taste of his power, as well as men and women living on the edge, begging for what was legitimately theirs. Now, even at this stage with so many of his ambitions going up in smoke, his life could be made to mean something more if we are open to finding out the truth about ourselves in the truth from him.

Jack Warner is us, writ large. He is the quintessence of the Caribbean reality of authority without responsibility. From the bowels of that world without consequences for power, he brought us word that "yesterday was yesterday and today is today". Well, now he knows different.

He might be surprised to learn that, like us, he, too, has no real investment in this place. If he did, he would've taken care to align his means with his ends. Instead, he pursued his ends by any means necessary, careless to the impact on our fragile institutions. Now that he hopes for strong, incorruptible and courageous institutions to come to his defence, he might also know better.

Last week the world looked on in stunned confusion at the national outpouring of grief at Warner's arrest and the celebratory reception at his cottage meeting. To them, he is a common criminal who broke the law to enrich himself. To us, he is what we would have been, if only we had his chance. We see not criminality but a man beating a power system. It is the oldest story of power and the powerless which takes no account of today's reality of independence, freedom and responsibility. We are still the enslaved, cheering on as the great house burns, oblivious to the fact that the great house going up in flames is really ours.

Tomorrow, the British and British-influenced world begin the commemoration of the 800th anniversary of Magna Carta (Great Charter). Hailed as "the most important bargain in the history of the human race" by Daniel Hannan, Conservative British member of the European Parliament, the Magna Carta was signed on June, 15, 1215 by King John of England under pressure by hostile barons. For Lord Denning, it is "the greatest constitutional document of all times-the foundation of the freedom of the individual against the arbitrary authority of the despot".

And yet, centuries later, in these old British colonies of the West Indies, "arbitrary authority" remains the order of the day for a people so imprisoned by their history of powerlessness that they are glad to settle for freeness over freedom. Five years ago, we were happy to settle for the Fyzabad Accord when what we needed was a meaningful Magna Carta of our own.

This is the powerlessness that has us relying on foreign authorities to bring our own people to account. Despite the extensive introduction of anti-corruption infrastructure, nothing has changed in the decades since the US Securities and Exchange Commission caught on to Johnny O'Halloran's brass-faced bribery deals. Neither the Integrity Commission, nor the Financial Intelligence Unit, nor the Anti-Corruption Investigation Bureau nor the many public and statutory bodies equipped with investigative authority, has managed to thrive in a political system built on arbitrary authority and dependent on the very culture of corruption that has us drowning in talk about who t'ief what and who pay whom, impotent to do a thing about it.

Faced with our failures, we're now pleading for campaign finance legislation.

While indispensable, let's not fool ourselves that this, or any other piece of law, will be enough to legislate behaviour supported by entrenched culture. Just look at how easy it was for the Prime Minister to deny getting money from Warner for her campaign.

If not from Warner, then from where did she get the money to float her luxury boat to victory in January and May 2010? She should tell us.

But the cheering gallery does not wish to know. Like Jack Warner, it wants only to win, by whatever means necessary, regardless of damage to the fabric of T&T. If we're lucky, Jack Warner could become more than the cautionary tale. He could become the truth that sets us free.

[asylumseeker]

From the Martin Daly article, "Humiliating the nation":

What is this, a standpipe drama or what? Are we still uncouth villagers of the colonial era? Will we never have civilised norms in this country?

Like Vidiadhar Surajprasad and Martin commisserated over a brandy this week? On the evidence, Naipaul will never roll in his grave.

[Cocorite]

Well said T&T Express, Well said. . .

[asylumseeker]

Danny: Yes, we paid R120m
Phalane Motale (The Sunday Independent)

Newly-elected Nelson Mandela Bay executive mayor and South African Football Association (SAFA) president Danny Jordaan has confirmed that the 2010 Local Organising Committee (LOC) paid $10 million (now about R120m) after South Africa won the bid to host the 2010 FIFA World Cup. But he has insisted this was not a bribe.

This is the first time that South Africa has confirmed to paying money to a football association then led by former FIFA vice-president Jack Warner, the man at the centre of the bribery claims that have rocked the soccer governing body.

Warner is one of the officials arrested and indicted this week by the FBI in connection with alleged corruption and bribery at FIFA.

The admission follows a week of denials from local football authorities and the government, that South Africa had paid a $10m bribe to secure the hosting of the 2010 World Cup.

Jordaan, who was the 2010 LOC chief executive, said that the $10m was paid to the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) in 2008 as South Africa’s contribution towards their football development fund.

Warner was at the time president of CONCACAF. This week several high ranking officials were arrested in Zurich. Warner was arrested in Trinidad.

South Africa is alleged to have promised to pay Warner $10m for his support for the 2010 bid. After South Africa won the vote‚ football officials allegedly said it was not possible to pay him out of South African government funds.

Instead‚ the money was deducted directly from a payment FIFA made to South Africa to help finance the hosting of the tournament, thereby concealing the alleged bribe.

It is alleged that Warner, in return, paid two other FIFA executives.

Of the $100m (about R1.2 billion) which FIFA had to pay SAFA for hosting the 2010 World Cup, The Sunday Independent has reliably been informed that SAFA only received $80m.

FIFA had deducted $20m ($10m for the building of SAFA House and the other $10m was for the “CONCACAF Development Fund”).

Jordaan said the money was directly paid over to them by FIFA.

The Sunday Independent has discovered that no other football association under FIFA received a similar cash injection during 2008.

And the reason why the CONCACAF was chosen above any other members, including those from Africa, was that “it regarded itself as part of the African diaspora”, according to a SAFA official.

A damning indictment by US authorities alleged bundles of cash stuffed in a briefcase were handed over at a Paris hotel as a bribe by a “high-ranking South African bid committee official”. It is not clear if this $10m is the same amount that the FBI is investigating.

The name of the South African official has not been revealed.

Jordaan said the 2010 Bid Committee concluded its business with the awarding of the World Cup on May 15, 2004. “I haven’t paid a bribe or taken a bribe from anybody in my life. We don’t know who is mentioned there (in the indictment).

“And I don’t want to assume that I am mentioned.

“They can ask all the executives of FIFA that I have engaged with,” said Jordaan, adding: “During my tenure as CEO at the 2010 World Cup Organising Committee, I was bound by regulations set out in the Schedule of Delegated Authority (SODA).

“Under that authority, I could authorise payments of a maximum of R1 million.”

Jordaan said South Africa won the 2010 World Soccer Cup bid on May 15, 2004 and the $10m was only paid by FIFA to CONCACAF in 2008.

“How could we have paid a bribe for votes four years after we had won the bid?”

Asked if he was aware that $10m was paid over by FIFA to CONCACAF on behalf of South Africa in 2008, Sports Minister Fikile Mbalula on Saturday said: “I am not going to respond to that.

“If you want my response, you better go to the statement I issued earlier in the week or go back to Jordaan, who will then give you all the details you want.”

It was later established that Mbalula had contacted Safa for more information regarding the payment, with the intention of issuing a statement.

No such statement had been issued at the time of going to press.

FIFA president Sepp Blatter, who has not been indicted, has long been dogged by allegations that he uses “football development” funds as a slush fund, distributing money to soccer officials in each of FIFA’s 209 member nations in exchange for their votes during presidential elections.

Despite the allegations, he has strongly denied that he was involved in any wrongdoing, saying it was not possible to watch everybody all of the time.

[FF]

FIFA Official Cites Satirical ‘Onion’ Article in His Self-Defense
By Robert Mackey, NY Times

Jack Warner, a former vice president of world soccer’s governing body, FIFA, defended himself against corruption charges on Sunday by citing an article from The Onion, apparently unaware that it was satire.

Mr. Warner, 72, who was arrested last week in connection with a wide-ranging criminal investigation by the United States Justice Department, held up the faux news report as evidence, he said, of an American conspiracy, in a video statement that was uploaded to the web and then removed later in the day.

A copy of a video statement uploaded to YouTube on Sunday by Jack Warner, a former soccer official accused of corruption.

Jack Warner, via YouTube

The satirical article, published Wednesday under the headline, “FIFA Frantically Announces 2015 Summer World Cup in the United States,” mockingly suggested that, to placate American officials, the governing body had added a new tournament, which would begin the very same day.

Holding up a printout of The Onion piece as if it were a genuine news report, Mr. Warner told viewers of the video posted on his personal website, Facebook page and YouTube channel, “All this has stemmed from the failed U.S. bid to host the World Cup.”

Mr. Warner, the leader of Trinidad’s Independent and Liberal Party, went on to suggest that American officials were primarily motivated by losing a bid to host the 2022 World Cup. “The U.S. applied to hold the World Cup in 2022 and they lost the bid to Qatar — a small country, an Arabic country, a Muslim country.”

“I could understand the U.S. embarrassment,” Mr. Warner continued, but it is important, he added, to “take your losses like a man.”

He then speculated further that a second goal of the criminal investigation that has ensnared him was to force “Russia to give up the World Cup,” which it is hosting in 2018. “Why is it,” Mr. Warner asked of the American prosecutors, “that they believe that they have a right to the World Cup?”

As dramatic background music swelled, he went on, holding up The Onion article again, to accuse the United States of hypocrisy for accepting the right to host the (entirely fictional) “Summer World Cup, 2015, from the very same organization that they are accusing of being corrupt. That has to be double standards.”

In the video, Mr. Warner also said he was “consoled by the fact that many of you on the blogs, on Twitter, on Facebook, on other channels, throughout were very supportive of me and still are.” He assured his supporters that, “At the end of the day, all of the allegations against me shall be proven to be unfounded.”

“You see, it is not when you’re up that you know who your friends are,” he said, “it’s when you are perceived to be down.”

After Mr. Warner’s error in mistaking The Onion for a news source was noted, and mocked, on social networks, the video disappeared without explanation from his website and social media accounts. Two hours later, it was replaced by an edited version of the video, missing 63 seconds and all references to The Onion.

ILP leader a laughing stock after using satirical 'Onion' to defend himself
By Leah Sorias (Express).

THE JOKE'S ON JACK

The peeling of onions usually results in tears and yesterday the satirical online US news­paper The Onion caused embattled Independent Liberal Party (ILP) leader and former FIFA vice-president Jack Warner to stumble in his self-defence against being "everybody's whipping boy both nationally and internationally".

Warner, who appeared not to know The Onion is famed for its satire, sought to use in his defence an article which appeared in that newspaper. He did so in an eight-minute video posted on his online television station, Jack TV, in which he insisted the US has "double standards".

The Onion article, which appeared on the website on Wednesday, poked fun at FIFA, saying that in an attempt to appease US officials following the arrest of football executives on Wednesday, it chose the US to host the 2015 Summer World Cup.

Warner believed the article to be true and stated: "If FIFA was so bad why is it that USA want to keep the FIFA World Cup? Why is it that they began games on May 27, two days before the FIFA election?"

Warner's mistake was picked up by the international media, including the New York Times, ABC Online, The Toronto Sun and CBS News.

He also was the laughing stock of many on social media sites yesterday. Just after 2 p.m., the video was removed from Jack TV and Warner's Facebook page.

It was reposted hours later, minus the reference to the Onion article.

Attempts to reach Warner last night proved futile.

In Warner's video, he insisted his indictment on Wednesday was all part of a US conspiracy stemming from that country's failure to win the bid to host the 2022 World Cup.

"The US had tried to host the World Cup in 2022 and they lost the bid to Qatar, a small country, an Arabic country, a Muslim country.

"I would understand the US embarrassment that a small country as Qatar, with less than 30,000 people as residents, could have been able to overcome them this way," Warner said.

"I could understand their pain, but nothing gives them the right to do what they're doing. I said before, I say again that no one country has any divine right to host a World Cup, and if the FIFA authorities in their wisdom or lack of it chose to select Qatar for the World Cup then so be it," he stated, adding the US should count its losses "like a man" and move on.

But as he sought to provide evidence that the US has "double standards", Warner whipped out a copy of a fake article posted on satirical website The Onion.

Aussies want back $$

In the video, Warner also insisted there were no strings attached to Football Federation Australia's (FFA) payment of US$462,200 (TT$2.93 million) to CONCACAF to fix the Marvin Lee Stadium.

Warner explained Australia "promised to assist" CONCACAF in developing and fixing the Centre of Excellence and he agreed to it. "There were no strings attached to that and I said fine, go ahead, and they helped to fix the Centre of Excellence, and I said fine," he noted.

His response came amid reports the Australian Federal Police (AFP) have agreed to probe the payment following a request by former Australian football executive-turned-whistleblower Bonita Mersiades.

South Australian senator Nick Xenophon also called on Australia's national football governing body, FFA, to formally report the payment to US authorities.

The FFA has claimed the 2010 payment was intended for upgrade of Stadium at the Centre of Excellence and has repeatedly denied wrongdoing. It has insisted its bid was clean.

An investigation by CONCACAF, the regional governing body for football in North and Central America and the Caribbean, later stated it had been misappropriated by Warner in 2013.

Warner was one of 14 people indicted by US authorities on Wednesday for racketeering, wire fraud and money laundering.

He is currently on $2.5 million bail after being arrested and charged locally.

'Thanks to supporters'

Meanwhile, Warner described as pathetic criticism he has changed the culture of FIFA, saying nothing he has done has been inconsistent with the international culture of the world football governing body.

"How do you judge, for example, that after all these accusations that the president of FIFA Sepp Blatter has been re-elected for the fifth consecutive term?

"If I was so bad and if FIFA is so bad, how come the head of FIFA is not?"

He noted the past week had been "the most trying one" for him, and thanked his supporters and family for standing by him.

"It is not when you're up you know who your friends are, it's when you are perceived to be down and some of the persons who I thought were my friends, today I realise I was a dreamer. They were not. And those persons who I thought were just casual friends, they emerged to the stalwarts.

"Who sent their deeds and who sent cheques so as to be able to stand my bail because they realised that all the properties I had, none of them could have been any use since they all had my names on then and therefore I can't stand my own bail, so to speak. So all of you who came out with deeds and properties and even your blank cheques, I want to say thanks to you."

Warner added the events of the last few days have brought his ­family closer.


<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/1rhLFDF516Q" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/1rhLFDF516Q</a>

[Brownsugar]

FIFA Official Cites Satirical ‘Onion’ Article in His Self-Defense

Jack, the gift that keeps on giving....

[AB.Trini]

Lawd-  all this man have to do is stay quiet and collect sympathy votes but the moment he goes Public
to claim innocence... hush nah  doh say no more - people want to see this man play "hang Jack"  by himself?

Doh pelt bluff nah if yuh have some tunami unleash it- deflect the crap from you- now is the time to bring all Tom dick Harry and kathleen to dey two knees if yuh have video tape play it

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8N0Br7MYiOs

[King Deese]

Jackarse, how you want to be Prime Minister and you don't know the population of Qatar?

Mouth open, story jump out. You are guilty until proven innocent, in my book.

[Socapro]

FIFA Official Cites Satirical ‘Onion’ Article in His Self-Defense
By Robert Mackey, NY Times

Jack Warner, a former vice president of world soccer’s governing body, FIFA, defended himself against corruption charges on Sunday by citing an article from The Onion, apparently unaware that it was satire.

Mr. Warner, 72, who was arrested last week in connection with a wide-ranging criminal investigation by the United States Justice Department, held up the faux news report as evidence, he said, of an American conspiracy, in a video statement that was uploaded to the web and then removed later in the day.

A copy of a video statement uploaded to YouTube on Sunday by Jack Warner, a former soccer official accused of corruption.

Jack Warner, via YouTube

The satirical article, published Wednesday under the headline, “FIFA Frantically Announces 2015 Summer World Cup in the United States,” mockingly suggested that, to placate American officials, the governing body had added a new tournament, which would begin the very same day.

Holding up a printout of The Onion piece as if it were a genuine news report, Mr. Warner told viewers of the video posted on his personal website, Facebook page and YouTube channel, “All this has stemmed from the failed U.S. bid to host the World Cup.”

Mr. Warner, the leader of Trinidad’s Independent and Liberal Party, went on to suggest that American officials were primarily motivated by losing a bid to host the 2022 World Cup. “The U.S. applied to hold the World Cup in 2022 and they lost the bid to Qatar — a small country, an Arabic country, a Muslim country.”

“I could understand the U.S. embarrassment,” Mr. Warner continued, but it is important, he added, to “take your losses like a man.”

He then speculated further that a second goal of the criminal investigation that has ensnared him was to force “Russia to give up the World Cup,” which it is hosting in 2018. “Why is it,” Mr. Warner asked of the American prosecutors, “that they believe that they have a right to the World Cup?”

As dramatic background music swelled, he went on, holding up The Onion article again, to accuse the United States of hypocrisy for accepting the right to host the (entirely fictional) “Summer World Cup, 2015, from the very same organization that they are accusing of being corrupt. That has to be double standards.”

In the video, Mr. Warner also said he was “consoled by the fact that many of you on the blogs, on Twitter, on Facebook, on other channels, throughout were very supportive of me and still are.” He assured his supporters that, “At the end of the day, all of the allegations against me shall be proven to be unfounded.”

“You see, it is not when you’re up that you know who your friends are,” he said, “it’s when you are perceived to be down.”

After Mr. Warner’s error in mistaking The Onion for a news source was noted, and mocked, on social networks, the video disappeared without explanation from his website and social media accounts. Two hours later, it was replaced by an edited version of the video, missing 63 seconds and all references to The Onion.


<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/1rhLFDF516Q" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/1rhLFDF516Q</a>

I think Jack referred to that article (whether it is a satirical or not) to add to his points that the USA is desperate to host a FIFA World Cup and is not too happy that they did not win their bid to host it in 2022 which everyone knows is true.
The premise of Jack’s argument is not based on that article and Jack referring to that satirical article was simply meant to add to the points he already made.

I am not a defender of Jack Warner but he made some valid points in that video. His only error was referring to that particular satirical article to add to his points.

[FF]

Lol. You can't be serious.

Do you know what credibility means... Lol

[Socapro]

Lol. You can't be serious.

Do you know what credibility means... Lol

Read what I posted again and tell me what I said that is inaccurate. Thank you.

I think Jack referred to that article (whether it is a satirical or not) to add to his points that the USA is desperate to host a FIFA World Cup and is not too happy that they did not win their bid to host it in 2022 which everyone knows is true.
The premise of Jack’s argument is not based on that article and Jack referring to that satirical article was simply meant to add to the points he already made.

I am not a defender of Jack Warner but he made some valid points in that video. His only error was referring to that particular satirical article to add to his points.

[Socapro]

Turning a blind eye
Monday, 01 June 2015 08:33 (TTOC.org)

Jack Warner ILP Leader

ON MAY 27th an early-dawn raid at a posh Swiss hotel brought nine bigwigs from FIFA, football’s international governing body, into custody for allegations of corruption. After years when the game’s leaders managed to avoid any consequences for their unsavoury mismanagement, fans around the world cheered the round-up as a first step towards cleaning up the sport. But the American indictment that put these seemingly untouchable fat cats in the dock had nothing to do with FIFA’s best-known dirty laundry, such as the awarding of the 2022 World Cup to Qatar. Instead, it focused entirely on wrongdoing by officials in the Americas, and in particular on CONCACAF, one of the relative weaklings among FIFA’s six constituent continental federations, which includes North and Central America and the Caribbean. The two biggest fish, Jeffrey Webb and Austin “Jack” Warner (pictured)—the current CONCACAF president and his predecessor—hail from two of the smallest countries in the world, the Cayman Islands and Trinidad and Tobago.

Given CONCACAF’s relatively modest stature, the American prosecutors’ focus on the federation is striking. They say that further investigations are still underway, and it would be no surprise if they subsequently reveal additional targets—though any FIFA officials with skeletons in their closets who escaped the first round of arrests will now presumably take extra care to review extradition agreements before they travel. If the dragnet does not wind up extending beyond this group, the simplest explanation would be that the Justice Department took the greatest interest in its local federation. (There is one American among the defendants, Charles “Chuck” Blazer, who has already pleaded guilty.) Another potential reason is that illicit money flows from the region Americans once condescendingly called their “backyard” are more likely to pass through the United States’ financial system—one of the grounds on which the Justice Department claimed jurisdiction—than are similar payments originating from Europe, Asia or Africa. The third theory is that the lords of Caribbean football simply happened to be sloppier in covering up their tracks than their counterparts abroad.

Football is a relative newcomer to the Caribbean sporting scene. Historically, its Anglophone islands have focused on cricket—the “Windies” team dominated much of the 1980s—while the Spanish-speaking countries, such as Cuba and the Dominican Republic, preferred baseball. But in recent years the world’s favourite game has made significant inroads. That owes largely to globalisation, as the colonial past of the British Commonwealth islands fades further into the rearview mirror. But CONCACAF itself has also played an important role.

The federation is an ungainly beast, consisting of two giants (the United States and Mexico) alongside Canada, a dozen smallish countries and 26 tiny Caribbean nations with populations of less than a million. Its smallest member, the British overseas territory of Montserrat, has just 5,000 people and a bad-tempered volcano. Just as in the UN General Assembly, each country gets one vote regardless of its size. As a result, the Caribbean bloc has banded together to out-vote its larger neighbours and secure a comfortably outsize share of the federation’s budget.

For over two decades, Mr Warner was both the architect and the operations manager of this redistributive scheme, to the benefit of both Caribbean footballing nations and, apparently, himself. By controlling so many votes in both CONCACAF and FIFA, he made himself a power broker with the ability to bestow or withhold the organisations’ funds largely as he saw fit. That in turn enabled him to prop up small-island officials when they faced grass-roots rebellions, ensuring their loyalty. Thanks to his ability to direct the largesse in his native Trinidad and Tobago and the prominent public role his perch offered, he also became involved in politics: he once chaired the United National Congress, the current ruling party, and served as minister of works and transport after being elected to Parliament in 2010 by a landslide.

Mr Warner hit his first speed bump in May 2011, following a Caribbean football meeting in Trinidad ahead of FIFA’s presidential election that was organised to support the challenger, Mohammed bin Hamman of Qatar. Envelopes each containing $40,000 in banknotes were distributed at the event; a Bahamian delegate photographed the money, and complained of the “insult” to the Caribbean. Mr Warner promptly resigned from his football-related posts, which forestalled a FIFA inquiry into his actions; 32 others either also resigned or were warned, reprimanded, fined or banned for varying periods. An investigation by the Trinidadian police went nowhere.

Mr Warner’s exit from football had little effect on his political fortunes at first. He was named Trinidad and Tobago’s minister of national security well after the envelopes scandal broke—though he later had to resign following a CONCACAF enquiry into the ownership of a sports complex, which found that using a “balance of probabilities” standard, he had committed fraud and misappropriated funds. Nonetheless, he quickly bounced back by resigning from Parliament, forming a new party, and winning his seat back in the subsequent by-election, this time with 69% of the vote.

It remains an open question whether even the American indictment can ensnare him. He did spend the night of May 27th in Port of Spain’s forbidding Frederick Street prison because his bail, though agreed to, was not yet paid. But he forcefully maintains his innocence, and can fight his extradition all the way to the Privy Council in London, which remains Trinidad and Tobago’s final court of appeal. Two local business figures, Steve Ferguson and Ishwar Galbaransingh, have successfully resisted extradition to America since 2005; they have spent a lot of money on lawyers, but remain free.

Trinidad and Tobago’s parliament will dissolve next month, with a general election expected in September. At the very least Mr Warner is likely to lose his seat. But he still has supporters who see him as the man who made the small islands a powerful force in world football, and who spruced up the neighbourhood sports ground. If the money to do that was bilked from foreigners, all the better. In this view, America’s indictments are simply a politically motivated plot, perhaps to confound Russia’s 2018 World Cup, or avenge the failed American bid to play host in 2022. The Caribbean public is well accustomed to patronage networks. Given the region’s demonstrated apathy towards corruption and incompetence in general, fans are highly unlikely to return their affections to cricket in protest against a bit of palm-greasing.

[Tallman]

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/qr6ar3xJL_Q?start=213" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/qr6ar3xJL_Q?start=213</a>

[Deeks]

But he still has supporters who see him as the man who made the small islands a powerful force in world football,

He used the small island to make himself a power broker in FIFA. We the football public got zero.

[Tallman]

Jack Warner - Trinidad’s 'Robin Hood' - Will never accept the blame
By Joshua Surtees (vice.com)

When I first arrived in Port-of-Spain in June 2013 to work as a reporter at the Trinidad Guardian, the buzz in the air was about a new political party, the ILP (Independent Liberal Party) and its founder, the former FIFA vice-president Jack Warner.

Two years had passed since the Guardian had reported FIFA committee member Chuck Blazer's accusations that Mohammed bin Hammam had bribed CONCACAF members, and the Telegraph had obtained a secret film of Warner handing out brown envelopes stuffed with Hammam's bribe cash to the 25 representatives of the Caribbean Football Union.

Warner had just been asked by Trinidad's prime minister to resign his cabinet position as Minister of National Security and MP for Chaguanas West; Warner said he took home just $1 a month for this job and gave the rest to charity. He didn't need the money. In fact, rumours were that he had privately funded the government's election campaign.

Without any sense of disgrace, he instantly formed his own party, brought on board senior figures from the political establishment and adopted the colour green, in contrast to the red of the PNM and yellow of the UNC, Trinidad's long-standing bitter parliamentary rivals.

Warner almost immediately turned on his former colleagues in government, calling names, accusing people of corruption and of having accepted bribes and gifts. He did the same of reporters who had been trailing his activities; he did the same of former FIFA colleagues.

He set up his own newspaper, Sunshine, to broadcast his counter-accusations. Like a naughty boy caught in the playground stealing sweets, he was telling tales, snitching, ratting out his pals. In essence, Warner was telling Trinidad and the world: 'everybody else is doing it, so why can't I?'

Last Friday (29 May) Warner left the prison in uptown Port-of-Spain — rammed with gunmen, bandits and drug runners — where he had spent the night before posting £250,000 bail. He quickly called a meeting of the ILP and recorded a video he later posted on social media saying he had "served this country fearlessly and faithfully," that during his time in FIFA he had conducted himself "consistently with all of the international sport's practices" and that at no point in time had he done anything "contrary to Trinidad and Tobago."

"The actions of FIFA no longer concern me," he said in a statement just before his arrest.

"The people of Trinidad and Tobago will know that I quit FIFA and international football more than four years ago," Warner said, still claiming his innocence despite the FBI's amassed evidence. "I have fought fearlessly against all forms of injustice and corruption. I have been afforded no due process and I have not even been questioned in this matter. I reiterate that I am innocent of any charges. I have walked away from the politics of world football to immerse myself in the improvement of lives in this country where I shall, God willing, die."

He blamed his indictment for multiple fraud, racketeering and money laundering charges on politicking around the Trinidad general elections that take place this year, and on Israel for trying to delay a vote on a Palestinian FA motion to expel them from FIFA.

In his short video, Warner congratulated himself for "single-handedly" taking Trinidad and Tobago to the World Cup in 2006 as the smallest nation ever to compete in the tournament (its population is just 1.3 million).

He forgot to mention the revolt amongst the playing staff who Warner had neglected to compensate for their historic achievement. The players only received their agreed fee for their World Cup appearances eight years later in 2014 after an interminable legal struggle against the government. When the players won their battle, Warner claimed they did not deserve the payments as they "never scored a goal nor won a match [at Germany 2006.]"

The team's goalkeeper Shaka Hislop responded to Warner's "single-handed" claims by tweeting, "arrogance and dishonesty are an ugly mix."

Another of those unpaid players was Brent Sancho. The defender had his dreadlocks pulled by Peter Crouch in the 83rd minute of a Group B game in Nuremburg, allowing Crouch to head home England's opening goal; Sancho is now Minister of Sport in Trinidad.

Last week, Sancho told Trinidad's Newsday, "The only real surprise is that it has taken so long [to indict Warner]. There was the Bin Hammam situation right here in Trinidad. He's not untouchable, but it is unprecedented. FIFA has been a law unto themselves for quite a while."

Sancho said the Warner arrest signals a turning point for Caribbean football.

"It's a historic day in terms of how people will conduct business. We, at home, and the TTFA [Trinidad and Tobago Football Association] need to be cognisant of this. I'm not saying they have done anything illegal but we must be aware that accountability is a must. People must remember how powerful CONCACAF is in terms of voting because of the number of countries we have. It has a lot to say in terms of everything going on at FIFA and what is playing out right now."

With all respect to Sancho, his appointment is the equivalent of making Tony Adams a cabinet minister, but the Trinidad government had run out of options after the previous incumbent sports minister had been caught smoking weed in a hotel room and forced to quit parliament for – you guessed it – corruption.

Corruption is a part of life in Trinidad, a country that struck oil decades ago and is still being fleeced by individuals in positions of power today. The culture is to grab the money and run while you can. Nobody will stop you – for the right price they will gladly look the other way.

As for the Sancho-Crouch hair-pull, you might consider it a microcosm of sporting power relationships. Maradona fists a ball into the England net in Mexico City at the 1986 World Cup and we harbour a sense of injustice for thirty years; Crouch yanks back a defender's hair and not an eyelid is batted by England fans, officials, players or pundits. The minnows were simply eaten by the shark. Who was going to stand up and shout for them?

Warner, that's who. Many Trinidadians consider him a hero for what he has done for the country and the region's football. At the ILP meeting on the day of his release, he received a hero's welcome.

On social media, Warner was showered with well wishes from hundreds of supporters still loyal to the self-styled "young black boy" from Rio Claro in the south of Trinidad, who went from being a teacher to the head of the Caribbean Football Union in 1983.

"Nothing can keep u down old boy god's blessing," commented one supporter on the Trinidad Guardian's Facebook page underneath Warner's defiant video message. "I am on your side, may god bless you."

"Sad day but you got lots of fans who are thinking positive no matter what," said another. "All the best bro, in anything that we do, we try our best not to get caught."

In 2013, after Warner's victory in the by-election in Chaguanas West, where he pays for local community centres and roads with his own money, I saw the zealous devotion with my own eyes. There are many in his heartland who would still vote for him to be prime minister of the country. As recently as yesterday (Sunday 31 May) the Trinidad Guardian published a poll from a marginal constituency in which more people said they would elect Warner as PM than the incumbent, Kamla Persad-Bissessar.

In her column on Sunday, Trinidad Express writer Sunity Maharaj described: "The national outpouring of grief at Warner's arrest and the celebratory reception at his cottage meeting. To [the rest of the world], he is a common criminal who broke the law to enrich himself. To us, he is what we would have been, if only we had his chance. We see not criminality but a man beating a power system. It is the oldest story of power and the powerless which takes no account of today's reality of independence, freedom and responsibility. We are still the enslaved, cheering on as the great house burns, oblivious to the fact that the great house going up in flames is really ours.

To many in his homeland, Warner is a Robin Hood figure taking from the rich and giving to the poor. In 1998 he secured a football centre of excellence for the country (the only one in the region). Costing $16m, it was christened the Joao Havelange Centre of Excellence after the FIFA president who gifted it. It later emerged that Warner himself was the owner of the centre and the ground, not CONCACAF.

Lasana Liburd, an investigative journalist and football writer from Trinidad who has written for UK newspapers including the Guardian, discovered that Warner had fiddled the football authorities and arranged the transfer of the centre's ownership into his own companies, CCAM and Company, and Renraw Investments, of which Warner and his wife Maureen are directors.

In 2007, Warner took out an $11m mortgage borrowed against the value of the Centre of Excellence with Lisle Austin, then president of Barbados FA and vice-president of CONCACAF. In the interim period, Warner had been claiming FIFA expenses for maintenance of the building.

In essence, Warner stole from his country and, according to Guyanese newspaper Stabroek News, he hid the stolen asset "in broad daylight."

Liburd told VICE Sports: "I think this is a bittersweet moment for us in Trinidad and Tobago. And I am not referring to regret of Jack Warner's continuing fall from grace or even the embarrassment of his misdeeds. I am mostly disappointed that Trinidad and Tobago never took decisive action against Warner ourselves. It is embarrassing that it took FIFA, then a CONCACAF Integrity Report and now a U.S Department of Justice investigation to make Warner account for the hundreds of millions that passed through his hands."

Liburd disagrees with Sancho's assessment of a positive outcome.

"Will this be a watershed moment for Caribbean football? I don't think so," he said. "There is no reform taking place or a eureka moment where the football fraternity woke up to the horrific effects of corruption. This is just a U.S investigation into a crooked citizen, Chuck Blazer, which spawned into something that has rocked CONCACAF. It is a massive, hard-hitting exercise but almost certainly a one-off. The FBI will not police CONCACAF or FIFA and I don't think we have learned our lessons yet."

He gives Warner his credit as a pioneer of T&T football, but claims the abuse of power outweighs any good that he did.

"Jack Warner is the most influential Caribbean sport official of all-time. He might have used that influence to help develop the region's football teams and lift the standards of our competitions and tournaments. The Caribbean has always been a reservoir for talent and you can look at the ancestry of so many players in the Premier League to prove my point, from John Barnes and Shaun Goater to Dwight Yorke, Shaka Hislop, Rio Ferdinand and Raheem Sterling. Instead, he allegedly abused that power to amass a personal fortune and, despite the hundreds of millions of dollars that flowed through his hands, Warner left the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) so cash strapped that it could not even hold an AGM."

Liburd concluded, "Warner was a cancer to Caribbean football and, in three decades, he has fashioned an army of officials in his image and likeness. It will take some time and no little effort before we can get our football moving in the right direction again."

As for Warner's possible punishment, it could be a long way off. Despite Trinidad's Attorney General allowing the FBI's arrest warrant to be executed, Warner is already a free man again, having left prison under cover of an ambulance after just one night in jail. And he shows no signs of fear. He knows that in lawless Trinidad with its legal loopholes his extradition to the U.S is by no means a certainty.

Mark Wilson, the Economist's Caribbean correspondent says, "It remains an open question whether even the American indictment can ensnare him. He forcefully maintains his innocence, and can fight his extradition all the way to the Privy Council in London, which remains Trinidad and Tobago's final court of appeal. Two local business figures, Steve Ferguson and Ishwar Galbaransingh, have successfully resisted extradition to America since 2005; they have spent a lot of money on lawyers, but remain free."

Warner, like Sepp Blatter, at times gives the impression of being indestructible. He claimed Blatter knew about the Bin Hamman cash that Warner handed out to his colleagues at the Hyatt Regency hotel in downtown Port-of-Spain. With Blatter re-elected in the top job in world football, it seems the corrupt activities of other are unlikely to bring about his downfall, even if it has tarnished his reputation.

It may well be that Blatter's fate lies in the hands of Warner himself. For now, Warner is defending Blatter.

"As black as you all have painted Blatter, he's still the FIFA President for another four years," Warner told reporters outside Parliament after making bail. "What are you going to say for the next four years? He's a crook? He's a thief? He's this and that? The voice of the people spoke today in Zurich."

But how long he's willing to keep up the charade is debatable. Never shy of playing the snitch, Warner has proven in the past he will say anything to avoid taking the blame himself.

[Richard G.]

I guess this runs deeper...much deeper....

http://thewire.in/2015/05/31/make-no-mistake-the-fifa-war-is-not-about-football-or-corruption/

Make No Mistake, the FIFA War is Not About Football or Corruption

BY SHOBHAN SAXENA ON 31/05/2015

The FBI’s move against seven FIFA officials on charges of corruption is seen by most countries as a desperate Western effort to isolate Russia and re-open the bids for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.

From Brazil to Russia: symbolic hand-over at the Maracana, Rio de Janeiro, 13 July 2014. Sepp Blatter, president of FIFA, stands between Russian president Vladimir Putin and Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff in this grab from the official FIFA video of the event. Russia will host the 2018 Fifa World Cup.
From Brazil to Russia: symbolic hand-over at the Maracana, Rio de Janeiro, 13 July 2014. Sepp Blatter, president of FIFA, stands between Russian president Vladimir Putin and Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff in this grab from the official FIFA video of the event. Russia will host the 2018 Fifa World Cup.
Rio de Janeiro: Forget the analogies about football being more important than life and religion. The Beautiful Game has always been all about politics among nations – on and off the pitch. And now, it’s reaching Cold War levels.

On Friday, as soon as Sepp Blatter was elected president of the international football federation (FIFA) for another term, he was surrounded by African delegates, who shook his hands, hugged and kissed him. Then came the Asians followed by Latin Americans. Earlier, when Blatter delivered his victory speech – a breathless jumble of platitudes — delegates from Africa, Asia and Latin America, Russia and Oceania gave him a standing ovation. For a man who had been declared dead by the Western media just 24 hours ago, it was an incredible resurrection.

At FIFA’s convention hall in Zurich, as Blatter was being feted by the big bosses of regional and national federations, his challenger Prince Ali bin al-Hussein of Jordan sat in the front row with a long face. Giving him company in sorrow was Michel Platini, the former French footballer and president of the European football federation (UEFA). After the Jordanian conceded defeat, Platini look shattered, trying to figure out what went wrong. A day earlier, the Frenchman had hailed Prince Ali as the great hope for football and an antidote to corruption because “he is a prince and he doesn’t need the money”. But few delegates, except UEFA members and their American partners, bought Platini’s theory.

This was FIFA’s bloodiest election ever. With the 209 members of the football body divided into two camps – Europe (minus Russia and Spain) and North America versus the rest of the world – it was clear that a winner would emerge only after some serious bloodletting. But just two days before the Blatter-Prince Ali face-off, the United States weighed in with full force as the Federal Bureau of Investigation arrested seven high-ranking FIFA representatives on corruption charges following a raid on their Zurich hotel. Soon after the officials – all from Central and South America – were taken into custody, US attorney-general Loretta Lynch called them “criminals” and demanded that the World Cup allotted to Russia (2018) and Qatar (2022) be cancelled.

But a day is a long time in football politics. Twenty-four hours after Lynch’s barbs against FIFA and Blatter, the Swiss football administrator was back in control. On Saturday morning, he blasted the US for “targeting” football’s world body and slammed Europe’s football bosses for a “hate” campaign.

Corruption is real, so is geopolitics

It’s an open secret that there is rampant corruption in football – at all levels. It’s no state secret that FIFA is run like the most private of private clubs with little public accountability. Though all football federations and officials had been aware of the American investigation into allegations of bribery, going back to 1991, nobody expected early morning raids and arrests. The raids were strategically timed, but if the purpose of the arrests was to make Blatter’s backers fall in line, it backfired. “It happened like an intelligence operation. Our phones were tapped. The police came to the hotel and picked these officials up as if they were being kidnapped,” says a Brazilian football federation (CBF) official, speaking on condition of anonymity. “Why arrest them just 24 hours before the election? They were not running away. Why did the cops come with three American journalists in tow? FIFA is based in Switzerland. All its official business is done in Switzerland. How come the Americans suddenly jumped into it even as a Swiss probe in going on?” he asked.

As soon as news of the arrests spread among the delegates at the Zurich hotel, officials of various federations went into emergency meetings. “The Europeans did not have the courage to arrest anyone. So they called the Americans to force everyone to vote for Prince Ali. It was clear to us that they wanted to get rid of Blatter and put their stooge in his place,” says the Brazilian who was in Zurich, when the drama unfolded. “As things turned very ugly, even those of us who had doubts about Blatter’s leadership decided to vote for him?”

Blatter, even in his own words, is not perfect. Far from it. A smooth operator and great survivor, he has friends and enemies in equal numbers. But why has this Swiss man suddenly become a villain for Europe and the US? Has Blatter damaged the Beautiful Game more than his predecessors, who too had to bow out in disgrace, in his 17 years at the helm? Why are the Americans so interested in “cleaning up” a game that has been managed mostly by Europeans so far?


Blatter’s main crime may not be corruption. It could be his reluctance to play geopolitical games as demanded by Europeans and Americans that has suddenly made him a villain. Blatter’s problems with the US began in 2005 when he declined the then US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice’s demand for Iran be thrown out of the 2006 World Cup as part of sanctions against the Asian country. Things became worse when the Palestinians were allowed to join the global football association. “While Blatter has been trying to make football bigger and better by taking it to all parts of the world, the Europeans have been worried about losing control. For Americans, the game is an instrument of their politics and Blatter became a hurdle in it,” says the Brazilian official.

With 209 members, FIFA is bigger than the International Olympic Committee as well as the United Nations. But it has been dominated by Europeans for most of its history. Under Blatter, things changed dramatically as he took the World Cup to new regions, especially to emerging countries. “The past two editions of the World Cup have been played in South Africa and Brazil. The next one is in Russia. All three are BRICS countries. It’s obvious that the west is not very happy with this. All this talk about corruption is an attempt by Europe and America to bring the game back into their sphere of influence,” says Thiago Cassis, a reputed Brazilian football writer. “There is a lot of corruption in European football too. They do not talk about it. This whole game is not about tackling corruption, but regaining control.”

In the good old days of European domination, nobody could have imagined that the World Cup would one day go to Africa, as it did in 2010, or that three emerging countries would host the mega-event back-to-back. Now with China eyeing the 2026 tournament, which the US also wants to host, there is panic in the West as the emerging countries, with their growing economies and huge TV audiences, threaten to take the game away from them. Even India, which has been given the Under-17 World Cup in 2017, may make a bid for a future World Cup.

Enter the FBI

This change has happened because of Blatter’s efforts at making football a truly global sport. Under him, FIFA has invested millions of dollars in infrastructure and projects in Africa and Asia. Despite the western media dubbing this as Blatter’s way of “buying” influence and indulging in corruption, the delegates from these regions stood by him on Friday. They have seen some real change in their part of the world. “Blatter himself has always been a strong supporter of the African and Asian countries in football. He’s basically broken with the duopoly that Europe and Latin America traditionally had in the sport. He has made it more global and he has brought in people from these two vast regions, and they are grateful to him, and they support him,” Alexander Mercouris, international affairs editor for Russia Insider magazine, said in an interview just after the FIFA vote.

On Thursday, as the western media was providing running commentary on the “storm” in FIFA and baying for Blatter’s blood, 47 members of the Asian Football Confederation and the 54-member African Football Confederation declared their support for him. The South and Central American federations, some of whose members were not so sure about their support to Blatter, also decided to back him after the hotel raid. “Why did they arrest officials only from our federations and that too in Switzerland? Why didn’t they approach our governments through Interpol? Is it because they knew that extradition from South America to US is impossible?” asks a CBF official.

There was also anger about reports in the western media about the CBF chief Marco Polo Del Nero “fleeing” Zurich for Brazil as he “feared” arrest. In fact, when papers like the Guardian and New York Times were reporting Del Nero’s “escape” from the FIFA meeting, the Brazilian official was still in Switzerland. “They brought all this pressure on us to force us to vote for Prince Ali. They have been lobbying with us for months. When they didn’t see it working, they conducted the raid followed by veiled threats to others that they could be arrested too. Some British and American journalists were part of this pressure tactic,” the Brazilian official alleged.

From the versions of the Zurich raid given by some South American officials, it appears that the FBI, Swiss police and a few western reporters hunted them together. “As the Asian and African vote was solidly behind Blatter, they wanted the votes from the Americas for Prince Ali. They were desperate to make the prince the new chief of FIFA as he could re-open the bids for the 2018 and 2022 tournaments,” says a Paraguayan official who was in Zurich on the day of the drama. “Since the UK and the US lost the 2018 and 2022 bids respectively, they have been working to somehow cancel the World Cups in Russia and Qatar. They haven’t accepted the fact that they lost the bids in a fair contest.”

It is difficult to say if there was no corruption in these bids or that none of the arrested officials were involved in bribery. But there is also an element of truth in the allegation that Western governments and federations have been working together to tarnish the process by which Russia and Qatar won the right to host the event.

On Thursday, soon after the news about the arrests in Zurich broke out on wires, Ryu Spaeth, a columnist for The Week magazine, in an article titled “Why the next World Cup should be held in the U.S.A” said that the “bidding must be done again, and if it is too late, then the World Cups in 2018 and 2022 should be hosted in countries that already have the infrastructure to absorb a massive sporting event, such as the United States, which was among the countries that lost the 2022 bid to Qatar.”

This was very much in line with the official US position on the World Cup in Russia. Basking in the glory of the FBI’s move, Lorreta Lynch had made a similar demand on Thursday. In fact, neoconservative commentators in the US have been training their guns at Russia for quite some time. The attacks have become more intense since last year’s Ukrainian crisis which resulted in Crimea’s “accession” to Russia and Ukraine turning into almost a failed state. In recent weeks, Republican hardliner John McCain repeatedly called on FIFA to “oust” Blatter because of “his continued support for Russia.” According to Neil Clark, a British journalist, Blatter has been in the American firing line because he “went to Moscow not that long ago and said that there was no question of the World Cup being taken away from Russia.”

Power, money and partnership

With Russia still under Western economic sanctions following the Crimean takeover, the US is keen to further squeeze Moscow and deny it a chance to showcase its soft-power to a global television audience of a billion-plus people. Besides, there is serious money at stake. The World Cup is the most lucrative sporting event in the world, eclipsing even the Olympics. The 2014 qualifying rounds and final tournament brought in $4.8bn over four years and it gave a much-needed boost to small businesses and tourism in Brazil, besides creating a positive image of the country for millions of foreign visitors. A similar boost for the Russian economy and its image in the world could negate the West’s efforts to isolate Russia in the international community.

While the Americans have their geopolitical games to play, the Europeans are concerned about power. Dependent on South America and Africa for football talent, and, increasingly Asia for TV audiences, the Europeans know they are losing control. “Europe wants to import all the labour from us because that gives them a global TV audience and lots of money. But they do not want to give us World Cups or share any power with us,” says an African delegate who voted for Blatter.

Demonised in Europe and the US, Blatter remains popular outside the West because he took football where no other FIFA boss dared to. “The game is for the poor, not for the elite. And Blatter brought it to them in Africa, in Asia, and that’s why most of Africa and Asia voted for him,” Talal Badr, President of Union of Arab National Olympic Committees, told journalists on Saturday. “We don’t like governments to interfere with sports or federations. We don’t want these governments to control the results or impose on us where the game goes,” Badr added.

Whether or not Blatter is involved in corruption can only be revealed by an honest probe. The FBI investigation may become bigger and indict him later. For the present, however, Blatter remains in command of world football as most countries believe what the ‘West’ is trying to do is rob ‘the Rest’ of the chance to be equal partners in the only truly global game.

Shobhan Saxena is an independent journalist based in Rio de Janeiro. He has covered the FIFA Confederations Cup in 2013 and the FIFA World Cup in 2014, besides writing extensively on Brazilian and South American football 

[asylumseeker]

Shaka Hislop discusses the post 2006 WC player litigation
http://www.espnfc.com/fifa-world-cup/4/video/2476686/hislop-we-had-to-take-jack-warner-to-court

[Flex]

Jack Starts to Drop his Bombs

Jack Warner released the first of his many promised bombshells. Jack released a cheque which shows that he paid $1,000,000 to the PP's advertiser of choice, Ross Advertising.
It is important to note that the cheque is dated April 14th, 2010. The election campaign was in full swing by then. This give some credit to his claim that he funded Kamla's election campaign.

[Tallman]

A latter day Caribbean Al Capone?
caribbeannewsnow.com

Al Capone, the Chicago gangster during the Prohibition era, whose name is synonymous with organised crime in America, was charged with numerous criminal offences ranging from vagrancy to murder. However, the only conviction ever obtained by the government was for tax evasion, for which Capone was sentenced to a then record 11 years in federal prison.

Legally, Capone's profits from criminal activity did not have to be entered on a tax return until 1927, when the Supreme Court ruled that illegally earned income had to be declared.

Embattled Trinidad member of parliament and former FIFA vice president Jack Warner may well find himself in a similar predicament.

According to the 164-page indictment in United States vs. Jeffrey Webb, et al, in which Warner and other senior FIFA officials are charged with multiple counts of racketeering, money laundering and wire fraud involving $150 million, Warner, although a citizen of Trinidad and Tobago, was also “between approximately 1993 and 2013, a legal permanent resident of the United States”.

This means during the time he was allegedly receiving millions of dollars in bribes and other illicit earnings he had extensive US reporting and taxation obligations in relation to his worldwide income.

As a US lawful permanent resident (“green card” holder), Warner was automatically a US tax resident. US tax residents must declare their entire income to the US government’s Internal Revenue Service (IRS), no matter where the income was earned. As of 2012, they must also report certain information about foreign financial assets.

As a green card holder, Warner should have declared income both within the United States and any money that he received from investments or business activities carried on outside US borders.

As the US Supreme Court ruled as long ago as 1927, illegally earned income has to be declared.

Warner may therefore be called on to account for the various transfers the indictment alleges were made to him or to accounts he controlled.

Specifically, the Traffic Group, a multinational sports marketing company involved in the purchase and sale of media and marketing rights associated with football in the United States and other parts of the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) region, bought rights to Caribbean home World Cup qualifiers from the Caribbean Football Union (CFU), then bought the rights to Trinidad's home qualifiers, which it already owned, from the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA). Traffic then diverted payments to a Warner-controlled account.

In one of the examples, for 2006 World Cup qualifiers, Traffic USA paid the CFU $900,000, then agreed to pay the TTFA $800,000 for rights it already owned and wired the money to an account in Trinidad and Tobago that Warner controlled. For the 2010 World Cup, Traffic USA paid the CFU $2.2 million, and then paid Warner-controlled accounts $800,000 for the same rights.

In the early 2000s, Warner directed co-conspirator No. 14, identified as a member of his family, to fly to Paris, France, and accept a briefcase containing "bundles of US currency in $10,000 stacks in a hotel room" from co-conspirator No. 15, identified as a high-ranking South African bid committee official.

Hours after arriving in Paris, co-conspirator #14 boarded a return flight and carried the briefcase back to Trinidad and delivered it to Warner.

On January 2, 2008, January 31, 2008, and March 7, 2008, a high-ranking FIFA official caused payments of $616,000, $1,600,000, and $7,784,000 – totaling $10 million – to be wired from a FIFA account in Switzerland to a Bank of America correspondent account in New York, New York, for credit to accounts held in the names of CFU and CONCACAF, but controlled by Warner, at Republic Bank in Trinidad and Tobago.

Soon after receiving these wire transfers, Warner allegedly caused a substantial portion of the funds to be diverted for his personal use. For example, on January 9, 2008, Warner directed Republic Bank to apply $200,000 of the $616,000 that had been transferred into a CFU account from FIFA one week earlier toward a personal loan account held in his name.

Warner also diverted a portion of the funds into his personal accounts by laundering the funds through intermediaries. For example, during the period from January 16, 2008, to March 27, 2008, Warner caused approximately $1.4 million of the $10 million to be transferred to a Trinidadian businessman, and a large supermarket chain in Trinidad and Tobago controlled by the same businessman. Weeks later, cheques totaling approximately the same amount and drawn on an account held in the name of a Trinidadian real estate and investment company also controlled by the same businessman, were deposited into a bank account held in the name of Warner and a family member at First Citizens Bank in Trinidad and Tobago.

On July 14, 2011, co-conspirator No. 7, whose description matches that of Mohamed bin Hammam at Qatar, then president of the Asian Football Confederation, caused $1,211,980 to be wired from an account he controlled in Qatar to a Citibank account for credit to Warner's account at Intercommercial Bank in Trinidad and Tobago.

Will Warner become a latter day Caribbean Al Capone?

[Flex]

ILP leader paid $1.7m to Ross Advertising one month before 2010 elections.
By Asha Javeed (Express).

JACK CHEQUES IN

One month before the May 2010 general election, a company owned by former FIFA vice-president and Chaguanas West MP Jack Warner paid Ross Advertising five cheques totalling $1,719, 215.75.

Ross is the advertising agency which handled the People's Partnership's 2010 election campaign.

On April 14, 2010, Jamad Ltd, whose address is 113 Edward Street, Port of Spain, wrote a cheque to Ross Advertising for $1 million.

On April 21, 2010, four other cheques of varying sums—$195,220.55, $155,250, $97,750 and $270,995.20 were also made out to Ross Advertising.

The cheques, which show Jamad's home bank as Republic Bank, Tragarete Road, were all deposited on April 21 at Republic's Long Circular Mall branch.

The cheques surfaced without explanation on social media yesterday, after they were allegedly leaked by Warner, with the promise of “more to come”. They also appear in the Sunshine newspaper.

What the cheques don't state is what service Ross Advertising, owned by Ernie Ross, rendered for the People's Partnership as no invoices were attached.

Given Ross's relationship in handling the Partnership's election campaign, do the cheques represent money which Warner pumped into the campaign?

Last Thursday, after he was released from prison, Warner stated at a political meeting that he intends to go after Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar and reveal all through a tape which he will give to four lawyers.

“Everything I have against Kamla I will bring it out. I have kept it back too long and I will bring it out,” Warner had said.

PM responds

The question was again put to the Prime Minister yesterday.

Last week, Persad-Bissessar said she never received any money from Warner to fund either her own or the United National Congress (UNC) election campaigns.

In a brief telephone call yesterday, she insisted: “I, Kamla, received no money from Jack Warner. That is the God's truth. I cannot speak to any contractual arrangement the gentleman would have had with Ross Advertising or any other advertising agency.”

She did point out that as a candidate for Chaguanas West in the 2010 election, Warner funded his own campaign.

For his part, Ross would only say: “There is no comment. It's a non-story. I have no other comment.”

Copies to Lynch

Leader of Government Business Roodal Moonilal said he intends to forward copies of the cheques in circulation to US Attorney General Loretta Lynch.

Last week Lynch announced that Warner was included in a 47-count indictment that was unsealed at the federal court in Brooklyn, New York, charging 14 defendants with “racketeering, wire fraud and money laundering conspiracies, among other offences, in connection with the defendants' participation in a 24-year scheme to enrich themselves through the corruption of international soccer.”

“I have taken note of cheques circulating reporting to be a cheque by Mr Warner. His name is not on it so I assume that it's a company that he is affiliated to and made out to Ross Advertising and I just want to be clear that Mr Ross Advertising is free to conduct business with Mr Warner of with the many companies that Mr Warner is involved in,” said Moonilal.

“I am making a copy of that cheque and sending it personally to the US Attorney General Loretta Lynch. I am sure she'll not only be interested in where the cheque went to but where the source of funds came from and I am asking Mr Warner to make more evidence available to Loretta Lynch who has a big interest in those matters,” he said.

“Mr Warner's problem is not Kamla, its Loretta. I think the sooner he wakes up to that reality the better for him,” he said.

“The statement made by the Prime Minister stands unimpeachable. The Prime Minister herself has not received any money from Mr Warner, or the UNC. Ross Advertising works for several businesses and business persons. He is free as part of his commercial relationship to work with any client at any time,” he said.

Warner mum

Meanwhile, Warner is keeping the reasons for releasing the cheques close to his chest.

At least until tonight at 7:30 when his party hosts a political meeting.

In a text message response to the Express, Warner said yesterday: “No comment at this time. 7.30 p.m. tomorrow.”

[King Deese]

Today, Interpol issued a "Red Notice" for Jack Warner and five other FIFA officials, meaning they will be arrested if they fly anywhere in the world.

[royal]

Today, Interpol issued a "Red Notice" for Jack Warner and five other FIFA officials, meaning they will be arrested if they fly anywhere in the world.

the squeeze is on.

[davyjenny1]

Who say tsunami?

[Sam]

Today, Interpol issued a "Red Notice" for Jack Warner and five other FIFA officials, meaning they will be arrested if they fly anywhere in the world.

And Jack have no problem with that, he eh fly years now.

[Flex]

Govt did not jail Jack
By VERNE BURNETT (Newsday)

Government yesterday denied any involvement in Jack Warner’s jailing last Wednesday.

The former FIFA vice president, leader of the Independent Liberal Party and Chaguanas West Member of Parliament, spent Wednesday night at the State Prison on Frederick Street, Port- of-Spain after he was unable to have his bail documents approved in time to allow his release on the charges unsealed by US Attorney General Loretta Lynch in Brooklyn last week accusing him of involvement in a 24-year scheme to enrich himself by corrupting football.

At a news conference yesterday at the offices of the Ministry of Trade, Industry, Investment and Communications at Nicholas Towers, Independence Square, Port-of-Spain, Government spokesman, Andy Johnson said Warner spent the night in jail simply because of his failure to complete his bail arrangements on time following his court appearance on charges of racketeering, wire fraud and money-laundering.

Johnson said Warner’s jail stay was due only “to the fact that the system closed down before those arrangements were completed and of course you know that they were completed the following day and Mr Warner left the prison. Mr Warner is seeking to make a link between the Government of Trinidad and Tobago — I have heard him at least once accusing the Prime Minister of putting him in jail — but nothing could be further from the truth. The political administration does not get involved in matters of this sort and the process takes its course and the process is taking its course. He went to court and was remanded to appear at a later date.”

Johnson said that at no stage did the political administration have anything to do with the matter. “That would have been highly inappropriate and irregular.” He condemned the extent to which he said not only Warner but several other people in the country continue to make a link between the Government and Warner “that is patently not correct.”

He said that because of the widespread accusations the Government felt it was necessary to make the point that “nothing having to do with the proximity of elections to be called in Trinidad and Tobago and Mr Warner’s estrangement from the Government of which he had been a part — none of that matters and relates to what has been happening with these indictments based on investigations by the United States authorities at all.”