On his second court appearance since being arrested on fraud charges arising out of his tenure as vice president of Fifa, Jack Warner’s attorneys have already indicated a possible way out for him.
Fyard Hosein, SC, told Chief Magistrate Marcia Ayers-Caesar that the United States and the Attorney General had up to July 26 to get their house in order, otherwise Warner would be legally obliged to file for an immediate dismissal of the charges.
Hosein made the submission while resisting an application made by special state prosecutor Allan Newman, QC, to have the case adjourned to August 10.
Newman told the court that August 10 was sufficient time for both the US authorities and the Office of the Attorney General to file their case.
“I am somewhat surprised that the formal request has not yet been made. However, I will be amazed if it is not by the specified deadline,” Newman said.
Newman, along with British Queen’s Counsel, James Lewis; Pamela Elder, SC; Israel Khan, SC; Jagdeo Singh; Wayne Sturge; Gerald Ramdeen; and Varun Debideen are representing the interests of the requesting state. Warner’s legal team comprises Hosein, Nyree Alfonso, Rishi Dass and Anil Maharaj.
Newman informed Ayers-Caesar that should the US fail to file its official request by July 26, then it was within her powers to give the Attorney General enough time to receive the request and to go ahead with the extradition proceedings.
He quoted from both Section 9 of the Extradition Act and Section 12 of the Extradition Treaty to bolster his argument. He said that the August 10 date was sufficient time to have the case ready.
Hosein argued that his client, as a result of being charged, had suffered encumbrances and would continue to do so if the adjournment until August 10 was granted. This date was well outside the 60-day period given to the US following the issuance of a provisional warrant for Warner’s arrest and was, he said, unfair to his client.
Hosein suggested that the matter be adjourned to July 27 to determine whether the case had been filed and the AG had given the green light to proceed with the matter. From that date the matter would resume on August 10.
Warner, the leader of the Independent Liberal Party, had the support of at least 12 people in court yesterday, at least three of whom were wearing green, his party’s colour.
Warner was arrested on a provisional warrant in May after the US Department of Justice announced the results of their investigation into him and 13 of his Fifa colleagues.
Warner and other men face a total of 47 charges for allegedly taking part in a scheme involving the soliciting and collecting of bribes for media and marketing rights for several major international football tournaments.
The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) initiated its investigation following allegations of corruption in the bidding process for the Russia 2018 and Qatar 2022 World Cups but eventually widened it to include questionable deals spanning over two decades.
Warner, 72, of Cynthia Drive, Five Rivers, Arouca, faces 12 charges related to fraud, racketeering and illegal wire transfers. The offences are alleged to have taken place in the United States, T&T and other jurisdictions between 1990 and June 2011 when Warner quit Fifa. He is currently on $2.5 million bail.