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Ecuador denies requests of soccer leaders involved in FIFA scandal

Xinhua, January 15, 2016 Adjust font size:

Three executives from the Ecuadorian Football Federation (FEF) have been refused remand and will not have their bank accounts unblocked due to their alleged involvement in the FIFA corruption scandal, announced Ecuador's attorney general's office on Thursday.

"At the request of Ecuador's attorney general's office, the appeal submitted by two of the three defendants to review measures has been denied," announced the office via its Twitter account.

The office explained the decision was taken after a public hearing was held in response to a request made by two of the defendants lawyers.

FEF's suspended president Luis Chiriboga was one of the two defendants who had requested a review. Chiriboga has been under house arrest since December 5, 2015 and is accused, by the U.S. justice system, of participating in a corruption network within the world soccer governing body FIFA.

Chiriboga had asked for his bank accounts, which are under investigation by Ecuador's money-laundering unit, to be unblocked.

The other executive to make a request was the FEF coordinator and head of logistics, Vinicio Luna. Luna, who has been held at prison in Quito, the country's capital, since December 5, 2015, had asked for his pretrial detention to be revoked.

Both executives are being investigated by Ecuador's justice system for alleged asset laundering along with the FEF secretary Francisco Acosta, also under house arrest.

Ecuador's attorney general's office began an investigation into the three defendants in December 2015 based on the information from U.S. prosecutor Loretta Lynch. Lynch is in charge of the investigation into FIFA.

Lynch accused 16 current and former Latin American high-ranking soccer executives of corruption in December.

Chiriboga was included among this group, accused of receiving bribes for favoring third parties when allocating television rights and publicity for various tournaments.

The judge in charge of the case "opposed" the idea of unblocking Chiriboga's accounts "because it has not been determined if the money is illegal," announced the attorney general's office via Twitter. Enditem