Costas Takkas, a former secretary-general of the Cayman Islands Football Association, pleaded not guilty over the FIFA bribery case. He was extradited from Switzerland to the U.S. as part of the ongoing investigation in FIFA bribery case. Takkas is presently under a house arrest after he paid a bond for his release.
Takkas pleaded not guilty in Brooklyn, New York federal court over the FIFA bribery case, Reuters reports. Takkas faced charges, including wire fraud, money laundering and engaging in conspiracies to commit racketeering. Takkas was accompanied by two U.S. police officers from Zurich to bring him to New York on Tuesday. He was released on a bond of $1 million (0.70 million pound). The former aide to the CONCACAF president will be under house arrest in Miami.
"According to the request, by accepting bribes for the award of sports marketing contracts, Takkas massively influenced the competitive situation and distorted the market for media rights in connection with the World Cup qualifying matches," the Federal Office of Justice said, according to Swiss Info Ch. "In Switzerland, such conduct would be deemed unfair practices under the Federal Act on Unfair Competition."
Takkas, a British citizen was taken into custody in Zurich along with six other FIFA officials in May 2015. They were arrested at the request of U.S.-Zurich based FIFA over the alleged FIFA bribery case. Takkas was suspected of accepting bribes amounting to millions of dollars on behalf of Jeffrey Webb, the president of the Confederation of North and Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF), Yahoo reported. Takkas allegedly accepted the bribes to award marketing rights for the World Cup qualifiers.
Webb is presently awaiting for his sentencing in the U.S. Among the FIFA officials, Julio Rocha, a former President of the Nicaraguan Football Federation, is the only FIFA official still in Swiss custody. Rochas extradition to the U.S. is due soon as he will face his trial over the FIFA bribery case. Takkas' lawyer has not yet commented on the latest developments about his client's case.
