iStock Editorial/Thinkstock(PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad) — With the list of allegations against him growing, former FIFA vice president Jack Warner is questioning whether he’ll get a fair trial in the United States.
“One must be extremely careful to question whether the United States of America can be fair in taking action against officials of an international body whom it feels has done it wrong,” Warner wrote in an editorial published in the Sunshine newspaper, a weekly newspaper he owns.
In the editorial, the former CONCACAF president turned politician continues to claim that the U.S. losing the bid to host the 2022 World Cup is what fueled the current investigation by the U.S. Justice Department.
New allegations against Warner surfaced Wednesday, as he’s accused of pocketing a $1.2 million bribe from Mohamed bin Hammam — a former FIFA presidential candidate, according to a report from the Trinidad Express newspaper.
Citing information from U.S. investigators and Justice Department documents, the Trinidad Express reported the money was allegedly wired to Warner’s personal bank account in July 2011.
“The funds appear to be monies paid by bin Hammam to Warner in connection with his assistance in facilitating the bribery of the CFU officials who attended the May 2011 meeting and for his continuing support thereafter when the bribery scheme was uncovered,” the Express reported, quoting what it said was a document from the Justice Department.
This comes after a report earlier this week that Warner was investigated after $750,000 from FIFA and the Korean Football Association — meant for earthquake victims in Haiti — went missing. The money was allegedly put into a bank account controlled by Warner, according to the BBC News report.
Seeking a comment on these allegations, ABC News made several calls to Warner’s cellphone, however, those calls went unanswered. One of Warner’s attorneys, Rekha Ramjit, told ABC News that her client wasn’t doing any media interviews.
Asked about the allegation involving the earthquake funds, Ramjit said it’s “still merely an allegation” and that she couldn’t comment any further.
Last week Warner purchased airtime on local television stations in Trinidad and Tobago and made a televised statement threatening to release an “avalanche” of evidence on what happened with FIFA money. He said he had documents on Sepp Blatter and FIFA transactions, and information on a link between FIFA funding and the 2010 election in Trinidad and Tobago.
Host of the HBO show “Last Week Tonight”, John Oliver, responded on last Sunday’s episode of the show saying “apparently you can just buy time on TV there (Trinidad) to say whatever you like.”
Warner called his televised statement “Jack Warner: The Gloves are Off.”
Oliver countered this by buying airtime on Trinidad’s TV6 on Tuesday night to run his message titled, “John Oliver, the Mittens of Disapproval Are On.”
In his Trinidad TV spot, Oliver urged Warner not to lead people on by promising spectacular FIFA revelations and not delivering.
“I am begging you, release everything,” Oliver said in the video. “Because here’s my argument, why the hell not? It’s not like you’re not already potentially in a lot of trouble. Seriously, I’ve been looking through the indictment, and good luck with that.”
Adding that Warner’s sons — Daryan and Daryll — have already been cooperating with investigators, Oliver said he had no doubt that Warner had some delicious secrets.
“Right now, Jack, everybody hates you… I mean literally everybody,” Oliver said. “I think it’s something to do with you seeming like an absolutely terrible human being, but… if you turn on FIFA do not underestimate how much people might be willing to forgive. And if one day you end up in jail and you’re staring up at the ceiling wouldn’t you feel better to know you took down some people with you.”
Warner is one of 14 people linked to FIFA, indicted by the Department of Justice on corruption charges.
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