New York — Former Guatemala soccer chief and former Fifa executive committee member Rafael Salguero, 72, pleaded guilty to accepting bribes in a US court, and will be sentenced by a judge in New York this week, it was revealed on Tuesday. Accused in 2015 of joining a criminal conspiracy to commit a crime, two counts of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and conspiracy to launder money, Salguero pleaded guilty to the four counts and is under house arrest in the US. He pleaded guilty on October 27 2016 in a closed-door hearing with judge Pamela Chen. But the transcript of what took place that day was only released on Tuesday and was heavily redacted in places to protect the names of certain countries and entities. Salguero is one of the defendants in FifaGate, the scandal uncovered by the US government that accused 42 people and sports companies of 92 crimes and accepting more than $200m in bribes. At sentencing on Thursday, he faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for each, but ...

Subscribe now to unlock this article.

Support BusinessLIVE’s award-winning journalism for R129 per month (digital access only).

There’s never been a more important time to support independent journalism in SA. Our subscription packages now offer an ad-free experience for readers.

Cancel anytime.

Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.

Speech Bubbles

Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.