FIFA Decision Confirms Long Arm of Honest Services Fraud

August 13, 2020  |  New York Law Journal

The government’s lead role in the prosecution of corruption within FIFA, the organization governing international soccer, may be a paradigmatic example of U.S. law enforcement acting as the world’s policeman, pursuing wrongdoing with little apparent connection to the land of baseball, hot dogs and apple pie. In this article, we analyze the Second Circuit’s recent decision in United States v. Napout, and discuss how its holding illustrates that the FCPA is not the only card the government can play to prosecute foreign bribery, with little regard to whether such conduct violates foreign law. 

FIFA Decision Confirms Long Arm of Honest Services Fraud (pdf | 476.18 KB)