Former FIFA vice president Jack Warner has emerged as one of the most colorful figures in the global soccer body’s deepening corruption scandal, known for his video citing a parody news article as evidence of a US-led conspiracy.
Now the BBC is reporting that Warner—already under indictment by US prosecutors, along with 17 other people connected to FIFA—is also being investigated by the FBI in connection with missing funds that were intended for victims of the Haiti earthquake.
In 2010, Warner visited Haiti, raising $750,000 from FIFA and the Korean Football Association for relief efforts after the earthquake devastated the country, killing more than 160,000 people. But the BBC, who has seen the US investigation documents, reports that the money was instead wired to an account controlled by Warner for “personal use.” The funds are still unaccounted for.
Warner, who was arrested in his home country of Trinidad and later released on bail, faces extradition to the US. He is accused of taking a bribe to vote for South Africa in its bid for the 2010 World Cup, and denies all the charges against him and has threatened to spill an “avalanche” of secrets against other FIFA officials.