Two Argentine sports-marketing executives at the center of the long-running FIFA corruption probe quietly turned up in New York this week and are now talking plea deals with federal prosecutors in Brooklyn. The men, Hugo Jinkis, 81, and his son Mariano Jinkis, 51, flew from Buenos Aires to New York with their wives, according to reports. Their sudden reappearance adds a new twist to a sprawling case that has already produced scores of guilty pleas and several convictions.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Brooklyn, the investigation traces back to an indictment unsealed in May 2015 that charged soccer officials and company executives with racketeering, wire fraud and money laundering tied to the sale of broadcast and marketing rights. Prosecutors say sports-marketing firms paid millions of dollars in bribes to Latin American soccer officials in exchange for television and marketing contracts. The case quickly went global as U.S. investigators tracked bank transfers, shell companies and intermediaries to piece together the alleged scheme.
As reported by The New York Times, Hugo and Mariano surrendered to Argentine authorities in 2015, and Argentina later blocked U.S. efforts to extradite them in 2016. The paper reports that the two boarded a commercial flight from Buenos Aires to New York with their wives and are now discussing a potential plea agreement with Brooklyn prosecutors. If those talks result in a deal, it would finally bring two long-sought defendants into an American courtroom after more than a decade of litigation.
Brooklyn Probe Has Secured Dozens Of Resolutions
The Eastern District of New York has driven the case forward for years, reporting more than 30 guilty pleas and several trial convictions, along with sizable financial penalties from both corporations and individuals. In March 2023 a jury convicted a former 21st Century Fox executive and Full Play Group S.A., the Jinkis-owned sports-marketing company, on bribery and money-laundering charges, highlighting prosecutors’ focus on the business pipeline behind lucrative tournament rights, as described by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York. Those outcomes have been central to the government’s effort to unwind what it describes as entrenched pay-to-play networks.
What A Plea Could Look Like
Plea deals in the broader FIFA case have typically combined formal admissions of wrongdoing with forfeitures, fines and some level of cooperation with investigators. A negotiated resolution for the Jinkises could follow that pattern, with substantial financial penalties and possibly court-approved cooperation that aids prosecutors in pursuing additional targets. Given Hugo Jinkis’s age and the international reach of the allegations, defense lawyers are expected to push hard for mitigating factors as negotiations continue.
Next Steps In Brooklyn
It is not yet clear when any formal plea paperwork or hearings might hit the Eastern District docket, and prosecutors have not commented publicly, according to The New York Times. If a plea is filed, it will appear in Brooklyn federal court records and will likely trigger an initial hearing where the agreement is laid out for a judge. For Brooklyn court watchers, the move sets the stage for a major chapter of an international scandal to play out a few subway stops from home.
Legal Note
The Jinkises remain charged in federal indictments that accuse them of racketeering conspiracy, wire-fraud conspiracy and money-laundering offenses tied to the commercialization of Copa América and other tournaments. Convictions under those statutes can carry lengthy prison terms, although plea agreements often lead to negotiated sentences and financial sanctions. Any new filings in the Eastern District will be public, offering the clearest look yet at how prosecutors and defense counsel choose to close this long-running case.
.jpg){kind=link}