By Jack Queen
(Reuters) – Jurors began deliberating Monday in a case against two former 21st Century Fox executives and a sports marketing company accused of bribing South American soccer officials in exchange for lucrative broadcasting rights.
Brooklyn federal prosecutors allege Carlos Martinez and Hernan Lopez oversaw a multi-million dollar bribe scheme to land below-market media contracts and secure the loyalty of officials at South American soccer’s governing body, CONMEBOL. Co-defendant Full Play Group SA is accused of similar conduct.
All three defendants pleaded not guilty and have denied wrongdoing.
Over the seven-week trial, jurors saw emails, contracts and business records that prosecutors say revealed a years-long plot by Martinez and Lopez to advance their careers by funneling payments to soccer officials through sham contracts and consulting agreements.
The case stems from a sweeping probe of corruption in international soccer and its world governing body, FIFA. The investigation has resulted in dozens of convictions since U.S. and international authorities made their first arrests in 2015.
The government’s case hinges largely on the testimony of Argentine businessman Alejandro Burzaco, who has pleaded guilty to bribing soccer officials but has yet to be sentenced.
Burzaco told jurors that Martinez and Lopez were aware of and approved the scheme, which he said they discussed during multiple meetings.
The defense has assailed Burzaco’s credibility, alleging he falsely implicated Martinez and Lopez to secure a lighter sentence under his cooperation agreement with the government.
A lawyer for Burzaco said it was “absurd” to suggest his client was lying in his “highly corroborated” testimony.
Lawyers for Martinez and Lopez told jurors during closing arguments on Friday that their clients were unaware of Burzaco’s scheme. None of the emails and documents cited by prosecutors directly implicated the two men, they argued.
Prosecutors said Burzaco’s testimony was “devastating” and alleged that emails showed him discussing the bribes with Martinez and Lopez in coded terms.
(Reporting by Jack Queen in New York; Editing by Noeleen Walder and Ken Ferris)
