US plans to seize properties in FIFA case

There is a 2.74-acre estate in Loganville, Georgia, that features a curvy swimming pool and an ornate gate at the head of its drive. On a private island in Miami, a high-rise apartment overlooks the water. And in modest sections of that city, eight cookie-cutter rental units sit in sleepy development communities. The properties are owned by some of the world’s highest-ranking soccer officials and sports marketing executives, and they are tied to tainted money, U.S. authorities say.

Of all the revelations packed into the federal indictment in May of FIFA officials and sports marketing executives — including bribery, fraud and money laundering — one detail received little attention: Some of the men charged own property in the United States, and the government plans to seize it.

Federal prosecutors have identified 13 such properties, with estimated values ranging from less than $70,000 to more than $1 million, according to records. Some serve as second homes to officials, while others have been primary residences for unsuspecting tenants.

Aaron Davidson, who is accused of paying bribes to Jeffrey Webb, a former FIFA vice president, to win lucrative rights for his sports marketing firm, is the owner of a $1.1 million apartment on Brickell Key, a gated island in Miami with private security guards patrolling on golf carts.

For Davidson, the apartment — in a 40-story building whose lobby features white orchids, soft music piped in and a reflection pool — has been his primary residence, and he remains there under house arrest with his wife and two daughters.

Webb, a citizen of the Cayman Islands who was extradited to the U.S. from Switzerland last week, has multiple properties in the United States, including four in Georgia that are subject to seizure.

For the government, they make tangible targets. “It’s easier to go after physical assets in the U.S. than it is to go after offshore bank accounts,” said Mark V. Vlasic, a lawyer with Madison Law and Strategy Group and former head of operations at the World Bank Stolen Asset Recovery Initiative. “It’s very difficult for real property to evaporate. It’s not going to travel through electronic wires to different countries.”

Davidson and Webb have put the value of their properties toward bail payments of $5 million and $10 million; Webb’s was made Monday after he pleaded not guilty in federal court in Brooklyn.

In neighborhoods of Miami far less affluent than Davidson’s, eight properties are also in the sights of the federal government. They were formerly owned by Rafael Esquivel, the head of Venezuela’s soccer federation, and now belong to distinct holding companies. (One of those eight addresses as listed in the indictment, 8450 SW 149th Ave., does not exist, but records tied to Esquivel exist for House No. 8540.) But, according to occupants, Esquivel still has direct ties to the properties.

Sandra Cardona, a physical therapist, lives in the Tuscan Lakes Villas development in Hialeah, Florida, with her 10-year-old son at an address that appears in the 162-page indictment unsealed in May. On Sunday, two friends helped Cardona make repairs around the house, where she hopes to remain until she can afford to buy her own place, she said.

But recently she learned about her landlord’s link to the far-reaching corruption scheme and became worried about eviction. “I was watching the news one night and heard the name Rafael Esquivel,” Cardona said. “I was shocked. That’s the name I write on my rent check.”

Cardona pays $1,400 monthly to Esquivel. The two-bedroom, two-bathroom townhouse is valued at $128,000, according to the Miami-Dade County property appraiser’s office.

Though Esquivel collects checks made payable to him, he transferred his properties for $100 each to unique holding companies in 2011, a strategy often employed by property owners to limit their liability and protect privacy. (Some of Webb’s Georgia properties, too, are held in the name of a third party, Kosson Properties, records show.)

Marc J. Isaacs, a lawyer specializing in residential real estate transactions, said it was unusual to go to the trouble of transferring assets as Esquivel had but not open bank accounts in the names of holding companies and have rent checks directed there.

“It could be an oversight, laziness or lack of knowledge,” Isaacs said. “But it’s wasted effort to put property in the name of an entity and then have funds go directly to the individual. In terms of asset protection, it almost defeats the purpose of doing the transfer and makes you vulnerable to creditors, including the government.”

Federal officials involved with the investigation, which has been led by the Internal Revenue Service and the U.S. attorney’s office for the Eastern District of New York, declined to comment Tuesday.

In the Kendall section of Miami, another tenant at a property tied to Esquivel referred inquiries to her lawyer, Luis Fernandez, who did not respond to a request for comment.

Jose Marques, who lives four doors down from Cardona in another of Esquivel’s houses, with his wife and young daughter, said he had heard about their landlord’s ties to the FIFA case from another neighbor.

“My check is cashed every month, but I don’t know what’s going on,” he said, adding that the family planned to move soon regardless.

Though taken aback by the quiet development figuring into a global sports scandal, Marques said he was not concerned.

Some of Esquivel’s other tenants may be unaware of their homes’ connection to FIFA. “Esquivel is Venezuelan and involved in soccer,” Cardona said. “My neighbors are Cuban and they like baseball, so I’m not sure they even know.”