Former Fifa president Sepp Blatter on the way to the Federal Prosecutor's Office in Switzerland. Walter Bieri / AP
Former Fifa president Sepp Blatter on the way to the Federal Prosecutor's Office in Switzerland. Walter Bieri / AP
Former Fifa president Sepp Blatter on the way to the Federal Prosecutor's Office in Switzerland. Walter Bieri / AP
Former Fifa president Sepp Blatter on the way to the Federal Prosecutor's Office in Switzerland. Walter Bieri / AP

Former Fifa chief Sepp Blatter attends $2.2m fraud case hearing


Nicky Harley
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The former head of world football Sepp Blatter was on Monday attending a hearing in Switzerland as part of a fraud case.

Swiss prosecutors are investigating Mr Blatter, 85, over a payment of $2.2 million made in 2011 to former Uefa president Michel Platini.

The hearing had been postponed until this month due to the retired Swiss football president's poor health.

"This morning, Mr Blatter went for his hearing at the federal prosecutor's office in Zurich," his spokesman Thomas Renggli said.

"Mr Blatter is happy. He said it has gone well so far and he hopes the hearing ends tomorrow."

Mr Blatter said he would return on Tuesday to resume the final hearing in the investigation.

"It is a normal audience. It's the first part. The second part will be tomorrow," he said after the hearing. "It was in a good spirit."

In March, Mr Blatter was convalescing in a clinic after spending December and January in hospital.

Because of his condition, the hearing with a federal prosecutor from the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland was expected to last for only 90 minutes.

Mr Blatter became Fifa's general secretary in 1981 and the president of world football's governing body in 1998.

He was forced to stand down in 2015 and was banned by Fifa for eight years, later reduced to six, for authorising what prosecutors called a "disloyal payment" to the former French football star Mr Platini.

The ban was imposed for multiple breaches of Fifa's ethics code and Mr Blatter was fined one million Swiss francs ($1.1m).

"The criminal proceedings against Mr Blatter are now being conducted on suspicion of fraud, breach of trust and unfaithful business management," the OAG said before the hearing.

The investigation, which was set up in 2015, is examining the payment Mr Platini received from Fifa for an advisory job completed in 2002, on suspicion of "complicity in unfair management, embezzlement and forgery".

Mr Blatter insists the payment was legitimate.

"It was based on an oral contract that regulated Mr Platini's advisory activities for Fifa between 1998 and 2002," he said. "The process was correctly declared as a late payment of wages."

Prosecutors said they could not put a timetable on concluding the investigation.

Also on December 7 to 9, the third edition of the Gulf Car Festival (www.gulfcarfestival.com) will take over Dubai Festival City Mall, a new venue for the event. Last year's festival brought together about 900 cars worth more than Dh300 million from across the Emirates and wider Gulf region – and that first figure is set to swell by several hundred this time around, with between 1,000 and 1,200 cars expected. The first day is themed around American muscle; the second centres on supercars, exotics, European cars and classics; and the final day will major in JDM (Japanese domestic market) cars, tuned vehicles and trucks. Individuals and car clubs can register their vehicles, although the festival isn’t all static displays, with stunt drifting, a rev battle, car pulls and a burnout competition.

Stamp duty timeline

December 2014: Former UK finance minister George Osbourne reforms stamp duty, replacing the slab system with a blended rate scheme, with the top rate increasing to 12 per cent from 10 per cent:
Up to £125,000 - 0%; £125,000 to £250,000 – 2%; £250,000 to £925,000 – 5%; £925,000 to £1.5m: 10%; Over £1.5m – 12%

April 2016: New 3% surcharge applied to any buy-to-let properties or additional homes purchased.

July 2020: Rishi Sunak unveils SDLT holiday, with no tax to pay on the first £500,000, with buyers saving up to £15,000.

March 2021: Mr Sunak decides the fate of SDLT holiday at his March 3 budget, with expectations he will extend the perk unti June.

April 2021: 2% SDLT surcharge added to property transactions made by overseas buyers.

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Favourite book: Peter Rabbit. I used to read it to my three children and still read it myself. If I am feeling down it brings back good memories.

Best thing about your job: Getting to help people. My mum always told me never to pass up an opportunity to do a good deed.

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Updated: August 09, 2021, 3:34 PM`