corruption trial

NEW YORK: Three South American former soccer officials were blinded by greed and accepted millions of dollars in bribes, US prosecutors told the FIFA corruption trial Monday as defence lawyers insisted their wealthy clients were innocent. Forty-two officials and marketing executives, and three companies were indicted in an exhaustive 236-page complaint detailing 92 separate crimes and 15 corruption schemes to the tune of $200 million. It was the largest graft scandal in the history of world soccer, first unveiled by US…

BRASILIA: President Michel Temer of Brazil hoped Thursday to turn a surprisingly easy victory in blocking his corruption trial into momentum for austerity reforms, but more turmoil could await the unpopular leader. Temer needed a third of the lower house of Congress' support to avoid being suspended from office and put on trial in the Supreme Court. After hours of angry, often raucous debates he got 263 votes -- more than half of the chamber. Another 21 deputies were either absent or abstained, deepening the defeat for…