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Swiss ex-FIFA boss Blatter ‘not afraid’ of going to trial

Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter says he will continue fighting fraud allegations, and does not fear his case possibly going to trial, he told a Swiss weekly in an interview published on Sunday.

Swiss ex-FIFA boss Blatter 'not afraid' of going to trial
Former president of World football's governing body FIFA, Sepp Blatter, leaves the building of the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland with his lawyer (unseen) to attend a hearing in Zurich, on August 9 2021. (Photo by SEBASTIEN BOZON / AFP)

Former world football chief Blatter, 85, faced four days of questioning by a federal prosecutor earlier this month in a long-running probe into a suspected fraudulent payment a decade ago.

READ ALSO: Former FIFA chief Blatter faces final hearing in Switzerland in payment probe

READ ALSO: Swiss expand probe of ex-FIFA president Blatter

In the case that shook world sport, Blatter is being investigated over a two million Swiss franc ($2.2 million, 1.85 million euro) payment to Michel Platini in 2011, who was then in charge of European football’s governing body UEFA.

Blatter was forced to stand down as FIFA president in 2015 and was banned by FIFA for eight years, later reduced to six, over ethics breaches for authorising what prosecutors termed a “disloyal payment”.

The Office of the Attorney General (OAG) of Switzerland, which has said Blatter faces “suspicion of fraud, breach of trust and unfaithful business management,” has yet to announce whether it will indict him or dismiss the case.

Blatter, who has always maintained the payment to Platini was above board, told the Le Matin Dimanche weekly he was not worried.

“I am not afraid of a trial,” he said in the interview, published on Sunday, adding that he had heard from a number of lawyers that the case against him was not credible.

In a statement issued before the hearing with the prosecutor began earlier this month, Blatter reiterated that the payment had been “based on an oral contract that regulated Platini’s advisory activities for FIFA between 1998 and 2002.”

“The payment was delayed because FIFA was initially unable to pay out the entire amount — and Platini only made the claim in 2010.”

Blatter, who spent two months in hospital in December and January after undergoing heart surgery, acknowledged though that he remained weak and could not undertake a trial immediately.

“Physically, I am not yet ready,” he told Le Matin Dimanche.

He said doctors had written him off twice while in hospital, saying there was nothing more they could do for him, but he held on.

“Now I want to continue fighting.”

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CRIME

How to avoid the ‘police’ phone scam in Switzerland

The Swiss government has issued a warning about an increasing number of fake calls purporting to be from police. But there are ways to avoid this scam.

How to avoid the 'police' phone scam in Switzerland

Switzerland’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has been monitoring the phenomenon of fake calls from alleged police authorities for nine months now.

But in the last three weeks, reports of this scam have almost tripled, the NCSC said, indicating just how widespread it is.

What is this about?

The scam begins with a call coming, allegedly, from police or another Swiss authority.

A voice, which the NCSC describes as ‘robotic’, informs the person who answers the call that their personal banking data is involved in criminal activities, or makes a similar alarming (but false) claim.

According to the NCSC, “it is not a person who calls, but a software The machine randomly tries Swiss phone numbers throughout the day. If the number is invalid, it simply moves on to the next one.”

“By using this software, the number of calls that can be made is virtually unlimited. It could go through practically all the phone numbers in Switzerland in a day,” the Centre adds.

After raising alarm about your bank account, the fake ‘policeman’ will urge you to “press 1” to be put in touch with a human being and obtain more information.

If you do this and, worse yet, divulge your personal data to the caller, you risk having your computer and credit card hacked.

What should you do (and not do) if you get this call?

The most obvious answer is to immediately hang up because, as the NCSC explains, “real police never play recorded phone messages. They also never ask for money or sensitive personal data over the phone.”

To that end, the Centre recommends that anyone receiving this call: 

  • Should hang up as soon as you hear the recorded message
  • Not press 1, or any other numbers, during the telephone conversation
  • Not get drawn into a conversation.
  • Never grant access to your computer, not even via remote maintenance software.
  • Never reveal prepaid card activation codes.

A fake tax refund

While the ‘police scam’ is the latest attempt at extortion reported to the NCSC, it is far from a unique case.

Scores of them are reported to the authorities each year, including the one reported earlier in 2024.

It involved phishing emails about alleged tax refund entitlements.

However, the link in the email leads to a phishing page. 

Here too, authorities advise to ignore these emails, not click on the link, and not enter any personal data on the phishing page.

READ ALSO : The common scams foreigners in Switzerland need to be aware of

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