Jack Warner, the former Trinidad and Tobago soccer official, has been ordered to pay $79 million in damages for his role in negotiating and accepting bribes and kickbacks over his years as a FIFA vice president and Concacaf president.
The ruling came Tuesday from a New York court, with U.S. District Judge William Kuntz writing the ruling after Warner failed to show up to fight the charge, the Associated Press reported.
Warner, 76, is out on bail fighting an extradition request by the U.S. to Trinidad and Tobago. He has denied wrongdoing; his sons Daryll and Daryan both pleaded guilty to fraud charges in a similar criminal case in 2013.
The ruling stems from a 2017 civil action accusing Warner of embezzling millions of dollars from Concacaf. Warner and Chuck Blazer, who is now deceased, took bribes and kickbacks for TV broadcasting rights for tournaments like the Gold Cup while more nefariously taking money to influence the World Cup hosting right votes.
The suit alleged Warner took $10 million — agreeing to give $1 million to Blazer — to sway the vote for the 2010 World Cup to South Africa instead of Morocco in 2004. No mention of the 2010 vote for the 2022 Qatar World Cup was made.
Blazer’s estate, for its part, acquiesced to a $20 million fine in the case earlier this year. Blazer had admitted wrongdoing and turned into a whistleblower before he died in 2017.
The civil case is part of a wide-ranging criminal investigation into corruption in and around FIFA.
Concacaf “intends to pursue all available avenues to enforce the judgment in any jurisdiction where Concacaf has reason to believe Mr. Warner may have assets,” plaintiff lawyer John Kuster said in a statement to the AP on Wednesday.
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