Former Fox executives plead not guilty in Fifa bribery case

Two former senior executives at Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox pleaded not guilty to wire fraud and money laundering charges on Thursday as the US government continued its sprawling investigation into bribery and corruption in world football.

A South American sports company, Full Play group, also pleaded not guilty to an additional racketeering conspiracy charge.

During a hearing in federal court, held via teleconference due to the coronavirus pandemic, Hernan Lopez, former CEO of Fox International Channels, and Carlos Martinez, former president of Fox Latin America, were arraigned for their alleged involvement in bribery schemes for lucrative broadcast rights to the 2018 and 2022 football World Cups as well as the Copa Libertadores, South America’s biggest club competition.

Related: Former Fox executives indicted in Fifa bribery scheme

Both were granted bail set at $15m, with an evening curfew and international travel bans also imposed.

Lopez left Murdoch’s Fox in January 2016 to set up the podcast company Wondery, which received financial support from Fox when it was founded. At the hearing on Thursday, lawyers for the media executive persuaded the US district judge Pamela Chen to exempt Lopez’s shares in the company from the bail package.

Lopez’s attorney Matthew Umhofer had argued that Lopez’s bond amount should be significantly reduced to $500,000 with no curfew or prior permission for domestic travel. But Chen ultimately rejected the arguments.

In arguing against Lopez’s travel restrictions, Umhofer told the court that FBI agents had “to come to Mr Lopez’s door” in July of 2016 with regards to the justice department’s sprawling investigation of football corruption, indicating the former executive had known of his interest to prosecutors for over three years.

Martinez, who left Fox in May 2019, according to his professional social networking page, was also forced by the government to hand over a number firearms to local police in Doral, Florida, as part of his bond.

Prosecutors allege that Lopez and Martinez had “relied on loyalty secured through the payment of bribes” to South American football officials in order to “advance the business interest of Fox” and obtain “confidential bidding information” to win American broadcast rights to the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.

The alleged scheme occurred during Rupert Murdoch’s ownership of 21st Century Fox. He sold the company to Disney for $71bn in March 2019.

Fox and Disney have declined to comment on the indictments.

The US justice department’s investigation into corruption in world football’s governing body, Fifa, was announced at dawn raid in July 2015.

Twenty-six individuals have pleaded guilty as part of the investigation, with two former South American administrators found guilty at trial in 2017.