Loretta Lynch, attorney general of the US attends a news conference on soccer related criminal proceedings, in Zurich, Switzerland, Monday, Sept. 14, 2015.
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In a statement, Switzerland’s Office of Attorney-General said that its chief, Michael Lauber, today met with his Malaysian counterpart, Tan Sri Mohamed Apandi Ali, to discuss “mutual cooperation” in the 1MDB case.
“The scope of our investigation is not limited and we are following the evidence where it leads”.
Lynch’s case – which includes charges against nine ex-FIFA officials and five sports marketing executives – is separate from the Swiss probe, although she underscored that the two countries have cooperated throughout.
A complete of 121 financial institution accounts have been reported as suspicious by a Swiss monetary intelligence unit to Lauber’s workforce of prosecutors, he stated.
Lauber explained that that for every report, his organization has to decide whether to “open a new investigation, join it to an existing one and whether the assets have to be frozen”.
It was also confirmed Swiss authorities are still analysing FIFA’s explanation over the sale of TV rights for the South Africa and Brazil World Cups to Warner – a Swiss newspaper at the weekend showed Blatter’s signature on the documents – for what market experts claim was a fraction of their actual worth.
The 79-year-old Blatter has announced that he will step down when his successor is chosen at a special election in February, but he has fiercely denied any wrongdoing, blaming all impropriety under his watch on “rogue” individuals.
“The Swiss authorities have welcomed the proposition from Malaysia to arrange for key witnesses to be heard by the Swiss investigators after the Malaysian authorities received the respective formal request”, it said. Lynch said she was “hopeful” that all would be sent to the US.
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Lynch expects more indictments in FIFA corruption investigation. The problem of corruption in soccer is global, and we will remain vigilant in our efforts to support a global response.
