WCQ - CONMEBOL

CONMEBOL accuses former president Leoz of embezzlement

Published Jun. 7, 2017 11:53 a.m. ET

ASUNCION, Paraguay (AP) The South American soccer confederation has accused its former president of embezzling $28 million from the regional body.

CONMEBOL made the allegation against Nicolas Leoz in a complaint to the Paraguayan attorney general's office. The move was authorized by current president Alejandro Dominguez, the confederation's lawyer, Osvaldo Granada, told The Associated Press on Tuesday.

Granada said the attorney general's office in Asuncion ''needs to move their inner structures to designate a prosecutor to investigate Leoz.''

The lawyer added CONMEBOL ''didn't file criminal charges, only a complaint because the law so establishes it.''

Leoz is one of three former CONMEBOL presidents indicted by the U.S. Department of Justice in its investigation into soccer corruption. The 88-year-old Paraguayan, who served as president from 1986-2013, is currently under house arrest in Asuncion and fighting extradition to the United States on charges of tax evasion, money laundering and wire fraud.

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