Ariel Alberto Alvarado Carrasco (born 1959 in

Panama City Panama City, also known as Panama, is the capital and largest city of Panama. It has a total population of 1,086,990, with over 2,100,000 in its metropolitan area. The city is located at the Pacific Ocean, Pacific entrance of the Panama Canal, i ...

) is a Panamanian lawyer and athletic administrator.

Career

Alvarado was president of the Panamanian Football Federation (FEPAFUT) from 2000 until 2011. From 2007 to 2015, he was a member of the

FIFA Ethics Committee The FIFA Ethics Committee is one of FIFA's three judicial bodies. It is organized in two chambers, the ''Investigatory Chamber'' and the ''Adjudicatory Chamber''. Its duties are regulated by several official documents, most importantly the ''FIFA ...

. Between 2007 and 2012 Alvarado was a member of the executive committee of the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Football Associations (CONCACAF).

FIFA's fraud case

In 2015, after an investigation, 16 defendants were identified for

wire fraud Mail fraud and wire fraud are terms used in the United States to describe the use of a physical (e.g., the U.S. Postal Service) or electronic (e.g., a phone, a telegram, a fax, or the Internet) mail system to defraud another, and are U.S. fede ...

money laundering Money laundering is the process of illegally concealing the origin of money obtained from illicit activities (often known as dirty money) such as drug trafficking, sex work, terrorism, corruption, and embezzlement, and converting the funds i ...

and

extortion Extortion is the practice of obtaining benefit (e.g., money or goods) through coercion. In most jurisdictions it is likely to constitute a criminal offence. Robbery is the simplest and most common form of extortion, although making unfounded ...

, including Alvarado. The

U.S. Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the U.S. government that oversees the domestic enforcement of federal laws and the administration of justice. It is equi ...

charged him with conspiracy to commit

racketeering Racketeering is a type of organized crime in which the perpetrators set up a coercion, coercive, fraud, fraudulent, extortionary, or otherwise illegal coordinated scheme or operation (a "racket") to repeatedly or consistently collect a profit. ...

, wire fraud and money laundering. The offenses charged in the indictment occurred while Alvarado was an official of FEPAFUT and

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

between 2009 and 2011. FIFA banned him for life and fined him 500,000

Swiss franc The Swiss franc, or simply the franc, is the currency and legal tender of Switzerland and Liechtenstein. It is also legal tender in the Italian exclave of Campione d'Italia which is surrounded by Swiss territory. The Swiss National Bank (SNB) iss ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alvarado, Ariel 1959 births Living people Fraudsters People from Panama City Panamanian criminals 21st-century Panamanian lawyers