Australia wants to know where money gone
By Andre Bagoo Sunday, April 21 2013
T&T Newsday
A FEW MONTHS after Jack Warner, 70, was made a Government minister in 2010 he “obtained through fraud and then misappropriated” about $3 million donated to Concacaf by the Football Federation of Australia (FFA), according to the findings of a Concacaf report prepared by former Barbados Chief Justice Sir David Simmons.
The September 2010 donation was supposed to be for an upgrade of the Marvin Lee Stadium at the Centre of Excellence, Macoya. Instead, according to Sir David, it is unclear how the money was spent. The money was placed in a local bank account in which Warner “comingled his personal funds”. There was, however, never any trace of the donation in Concacaf’s 2010 financial statements.
The report was released on Friday after being presented to the Concacaf congress at Panama. In response to Sir David’s findings in relation to the Australia donation, the FFA yesterday called for answers stating it has asked for a formal brief from Concacaf.
“FFA looks forward to hearing formally from Concacaf on its findings and taking the matter from there,” the Australian governing football body said in a statement, reported Reuters. The FFA said the funding related to mandatory components of its failed 2022 World Cup bid and was intended to demonstrate their credentials in the area of international development.
“This was one of a range of international development projects FFA undertook, which were fully reported to the Australian government as part of its bid reporting processes,” FFA stated.
Warner, the UNC Chaguanas West MP, was appointed Minister of Works and Transport in May 2010. At that time, questions were raised over whether Warner should be allowed to retain his football affairs while sitting as a Government Minister, in light of Parliament’s code of ethics which calls for ministers to give up private business.
The Cabinet obtained legal opinions which found that Warner could continue to wear both hats since FIFA and Concacaf were not, technically, businesses but rather associations.
According to the time-line provided by Sir David’s report, it was four months after his appointment, and three months after Cabinet allowed Warner to remain in football, that the Australia football transaction occurred.
Sir David says, “On or around September 23, 2010, Football Federation Australia (FFA) provided (US) $462,200 to Concacaf to support an upgrade of the Marvin Lee Stadium at the Centre of Excellence. These funds were provided through Australia’s International Football Development program in connection with its 2022 FIFA World Cup bid.” He notes there had been a site visit, involving Warner, the month before.
“During FFA’s initial assessment of the upgrade project in August 2010, representatives of the FFA met with a number of Centre of Excellence employees, as well as Warner, and conducted a site visit at that the COE to assess the scope of the project,” Sir David states. The Australians seemed to have been of the view that the facility was Concacaf-owned.
“In communications with Centre of Excellence employees after the trip, a member of the FFA delegation referred to the stadium upgrade project as the ‘Concacaf Centre of Excellence Upgrade’,” he states. “An FFA memorandum documenting the trip also refers to the Centre of Excellence as the ‘Concacaf Centre of Excellence’ and to Warner as the ‘President of Concacaf’”. A cheque was sent.
“One month after the visit, FFA sent the funds to Concacaf. The funds from the FFA were provided by cheque made out to ‘Concacaf’ and deposited into a bank account
maintained at Republic National Bank in Trinidad and Tobago,” the jurist says. However, there was no trace of the funds in the Concacaf accounts.
“The funds, however, were not accounted for in the Concacaf general ledger or reported as income in its financial statements for 2010,” Sir David, chairman of the Concacaf integrity committee says. “Although the committee was unable to locate records evidencing how this money was spent, bank records show that Warner comingled his personal funds in the same account to which the FFA payment was deposited.” Sir David finds that Warner and Concacaf general secretary Chuck Blazer presented financial statements to Concacaf officials which contained key gaps and misrepresentations. One omission was the Australia donation.
“The most significant misrepresentations and material omissions in the financial
Statements … include (the fact that) the financial statements in 2010 did not account for funds provided to Concacaf by FFA and therefore falsely reported income,” Sir David states. He says Warner, the minister, received the payment.
“Warner also received the payment from FFA so he would have known that it was not reflected as income in the 2010 financial statements.” Thus, Sir David concludes, Warner should have realised the 2010 accounts were wrong.
“As a result, it is clear that Warner knew that the financial statements did not fairly and accurately depict Concacaf’s financial condition and the disposition of its assets; nonetheless, he participated in presenting them year after year to the Executive Committee and the Congress,” Sir David says.
Sir David finds that, “Warner obtained through fraud and then misappropriated (US)$462,200 provided to Concacaf by Football Federation Australia in 2010.” He continues, “Although the Committee did not interview representatives from FFA, FFA provided documents related to the payment. The documents clearly show that FFA provided the funds to support an upgrade of the Marvin Lee Stadium at the Centre of Excellence and that FFA representatives were led to believe that the Centre of Excellence was owned by Concacaf.”
Sir David, the current chairman of the Cabinet-convened Commission of Inquiry into the events of 1990 further says, “documents show that the FFA provided the funds under the misimpression that they would be used to support a Concacaf project.”
Sir David’s report also finds that statements made by Warner – while he has been a Government Minister – on the question of the ownership of the Centre of Excellence were not credible.
“Warner declined to meet or provide information to the Committee,” Sir David notes. “Warner did, however, explain his position on ownership of the Centre of Excellence in a 2012 meeting with the current Concacaf General Secretary. Warner claimed that former FIFA President Joăo Havelange gifted the Centre of Excellence to Warner’s family and to the Caribbean Football Union.” The credibility of the claim was rejected.
“In conducting its investigation, the committee considered the merits of this claim and ultimately concluded that it could not be credited because the Committee found no evidence to support it,” Sir David says. “In fact, no witness interviewed had even heard Warner raise such a claim until after the Centre of Excellence ownership became a public controversy and the media sought an explanation. Furthermore, the claim that Havelange gave the Centre of Excellence as a gift in part to Warner’s family simply does not make sense because the development of the sport of football would in no way be served by giving the Centre of Excellence – a football and sports complex that was built with the obvious intention of serving as a regional facility – to a private family.”
Sir David, an eminent jurist, continues, “Moreover, Havelange would not have had authority to provide such a gift to a private family using FIFA funds...Thus, the Committee concludes, based on its review of available evidence, that Warner’s claim is not credible.”
The Barbados jurist also finds that to date, $6 million is still owed by Warner for a Concacaf mortgage loan relating to the Centre of Excellence. About US$26 million in payments were made by Concacaf and Fifa in the relation to the Centre of Excellence under the assumption that it was owned by the football body. The land was owned by Warner through companies and the money went to Warner companies.
Sir David, in his report, makes a series of damning findings about Warner’s Concacaf football affairs in the years leading up to his appointment as minister. He concludes that Warner, the former Concacaf president and Chuck Blazer, the former Concacaf general secretary, committed fraud and breached fiduciary duties. Under Warner, Blazer violated US tax laws. There is no finding that Warner was involved in Blazer’s breaches of US laws.
While Warner did not appear before Sir David and the Concacaf committee, Sir David, in his report, states, that the lack of Warner’s evidence, “was counterbalanced by credible documentary evidence that spoke clearly and cogently.”
Warner has dismissed jurist Sir David’s report as “baseless” and has asked for evidence of wrongdoing. On Friday Warner said he saw no reason to resign.
Nonetheless, the findings have raised questions on Warner’s political future.
Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, who was due to return from an official trip to the United States last night, was on Friday quoted as saying she has to take action in relation to the report. The Prime Minister did not respond to calls yesterday.
SIR DAVID’S MAIN FINDINGS
A. In connection with the Centre of Excellence and CONCACAF operations in Trinidad and Tobago:
*Warner Committed Fraud Against CONCACAF and FIFA
* Warner Committed Fraud and Misappropriated Funds from FFA
* Warner and Blazer Breached Their Fiduciary Duties to CONCACAF
* Warner and Blazer Violated the CONCACAF Statutes
* Warner Violated the FIFA Ethics Code
B. In connection with the compensation of, and use of CONCACAF assets by, the former General Secretary:
* Blazer Misappropriated CONCACAF Funds
* Warner and Blazer Breached Their Fiduciary Duties to CONCACAF
* Blazer Violated the CONCACAF Statutes
* Blazer Violated the FIFA Ethics Code
C. In connection with the failure of CONCACAF and its subsidiary, CMTV, to file U.S. federal income tax returns and pay taxes:
* Blazer Violated U.S. Federal Tax Laws
* Blazer Breached His Fiduciary Duties to CONCACAF and CMTV
* Blazer Violated the CONCACAF Statutes
D. In connection with CONCACAF’s financial statements and audits:
* Warner and Blazer Committed Fraud Against CONCACAF
* Warner and Blazer Breached Their Fiduciary Duties to CONCACAF
* Warner and Blazer Violated the CONCACAF Statutes
