Witness: Men accused of bribes negotiated sale to Qataris
NEW YORK — A sports marketing company whose owners have been charged with bribing top soccer officials tried to negotiate a sale to an entity associated with Paris Saint-Germain team president Nasser Al-Khelaifi, a witness testified Tuesday in federal court.
As the second week of testimony finished in the trial of three former presidents of South American governing bodies, the son of the ex-head of Ecuador’s soccer federation gave an emotional account of how he laundered $2.8 million for his father, who is under house arrest in Quito after receiving a 10-year sentence for corruption.
“This is the hardest moment of my life,” said Jose Luis Chiriboga, a soccer agent, recalling how his father, Luis, told him: “Sorry, son, I destroyed your life.”
Santiago Pena, a former executive of the Argentina-based Full Play Group, testified that he spent a lengthy period of time on secret negotiations called the “New York project,” given the name because the deal for 51 per cent of Full Play was valued at $212 million, and 212 is a New York City telephone area code.