By Paul Nicholson from Inside World Football

July 6 – FIFA vice-president and CONCACAF president Jeffrey Webb (pictured), currently being held in a Zurich jail awaiting an extradition hearing to the US on charges of corruption, has been hit by another arrest warrant, this time issued by the Cayman Island authorities relating to a healthcare fraud case on his home island.

The timing of the Cayman Islands move is, like the timing of the US-instigated Swiss swoop on the FIFA officials in Zurich, again interesting. The US Department of Justice last week filed paperwork in Switzerland detailing the charges and evidence for extradition against the ‘FIFA 7’, just beating the 40-day deadline beyond which they would have been released. The Zurich authorities will now take up to 60 days before they bring the cases to court.

The Cayman request for extradition turns up the public heat on Webb and will put more pressure on him personally to co-operate with the FIFA investigations, though his alleged part in the Cayman Island healthcare fraud case is neither detailed or clear at this stage. Charges of financial fraud in the Cayman Islands, it seems, are frequently dropped before they reach court due to lack of evidence.

The Cayman Islands Anti Corruption Commission case is being driven by the UK’s Metropolitan Police fraud squad who have conducted a series of spectacularly unsuccessful investigations into government fraud on the islands over the past two years.

However, their investigations were successful in removing the sitting Premier of the island, McKeeva Bush, even if it wasn’t via the court process. Bush was charged with fraud that forced his resignation in the run-up to parliamentary elections, and ultimately led to the collapse of his political party.

When Bush’s case was eventually brought to court (after the government elections had been held) a number of the initial charges were dropped, and he was subsequently cleared by the court of the remaining charges.

But a new government had been installed and, presumably, one more favourable to British foreign office interests – the island is a British protectorate.

The CarePay card swipe payment system at the Cayman Health Services Authority (CHSA) was an initiative of the Bush administration. Chair of the CHSA at the time of the award of the contract (total value of the contract is estimated at $11 million) was Canover Watson, a former vice president of the Cayman Islands Football Association, member of the Caribbean Football Union finance committee and member of FIFA’s Compliance and Audit committee.

Watson was not involved in politics in the Cayman Islands but was a senior executive at financial services firm Admiral Administration.

His trial was scheduled to go to court in May but was postponed to November. Charges against him include six counts of money laundering in relation to around $169,000 over an 18-month period between December 2010 and June 2012, when he was chair of the CHSA board. He is also charged with conflict of interest, failing to disclose a pecuniary interest, breach of trust and fraud.

Webb was neither an active member of the governing political party nor a member of the CHSA board. No details have been released as to what his involvement with the health authority was but he appears in no official documentation relating to the CarePay contract nor board minutes.

Watson and Webb have been jointly charged with two counts of conspiracy to defraud, one count of breach of trust under the 2008 anti-corruption law and a charge of conspiracy to convert criminal property.

In a statement the Cayman Islands Anti-Corruption Commission said: “The Chairman of the Anti-Corruption Commission can confirm that in connection with the ongoing investigation into the CarePay project, further charges have today been laid at Court in relation to Canover Watson, Jeffrey Webb and Miriam Rodriguez.” Miriam Rodriguez was Watson’s former PA.

The Cayman Islands extradition proceedings are likely to take second place behind the US request. Though for Webb, whether he is extradited to Cayman or not, any return to his home island will likely be met with arrest.

For more on this story go to: http://www.insideworldfootball.com/fifa/17364-now-webb-swiped-by-cayman-card-allegations

See also iNews Cayman related story published July 4 2015 “FIFA’s Webb charged in Cayman Island’s corruption case/ACC Charges” at: http://www.ieyenews.com/wordpress/fifas-webb-charged-in-cayman-islands-corruption-case-media/

See also today’s Editorial “I don’t believe it?”