How much is Jack Warner worth?

Port of Spain. Jack Warner, the football executive, political heavyweight and entrepreneur at the heart of the FIFA corruption scandal, runs a tropical business empire in his native Trinidad and Tobago. But how much is he actually worth?

Warner owns newspapers, real estate and dozens of companies in the Caribbean nation, but like his time in the halls of power of world football, the net value of his assets is shrouded in mystery and intrigue.

“I certainly do not know how much Mr. Warner is worth,” said Trinidadian Attorney General Garvin Nicholas, whose office is cooperating with the US investigation into allegations of massive corruption by Warner and 13 other indicted football officials and marketing executives.

“Unless you can get to every penny, every bank account, every company that Mr. Warner owns,” it would be impossible to determine his net worth, he said.

Investigative journalist Camini Marajh of the Trinidad Express, who has reported on Warner for years, estimated two years ago in a series of stories that his fortune amounted to one billion Trinidadian dollars, or about $160 million.

But that did not include assets registered to Warner’s family and associates.

“He has a lot of real estate holdings, 60 companies, shell corporations. He has different assets funded with other people,” Marajh told AFP.

“He is high up there with some of the wealthiest Trinidad and Tobago citizens.”

Several properties are registered to Warner’s wife and two sons, Daryan and Daryll, both of whom have already pleaded guilty to corruption charges and are cooperating with US investigators.

Daryan agreed to forfeit more than $1.1 million as part of his plea bargain on charges of wire fraud, money laundering and evading financial reporting laws.

- Power and influence -

Warner, 72, a former cabinet minister and current member of parliament, increased his fortune in tandem with his influence in the world of football, according to analysts and journalists.

The former teacher rose through the ranks of local football organizations to become a FIFA executive committee member in 1983.

He went on to become FIFA vice president and run two regional football federations, the Caribbean Football Union and the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF), before being forced from all football duties amid allegations he tried to buy votes in FIFA’s 2011 election.

He has also been accused of pocketing funds meant for victims of the 2010 Haiti earthquake, misappropriating money for football development in the Caribbean and selling votes in the competitions to pick World Cup host countries.

The US indictment alleges South Africa paid him $10 million to sway the vote for the 2010 World Cup.

- Criminal or hero? -

The most powerful symbol of the “Warner system” in Trinidad and Tobago may be the Centre of Excellence, a $22.5-million football academy funded mainly by FIFA that ended up registered as Warner’s personal property.

A sprawling facility with a stadium, hotel, swimming complex and conference center, it was supposed to train the next generations of Caribbean footballers, but today is mostly rented out for trade shows, concerts and weddings.

Warner, who is currently out of jail on $400,000 bail pending his extradition hearings, has so far escaped unscathed from the various scandals that have threatened to bring him down.

To many of his constituents in the district of Chaguanas West, he remains a beloved benefactor.

“There are too many people who really do not believe that what he’s doing is fundamentally wrong,” said Sunity Maharaj, who edits a review published by the Lloyd Best Institute of the West Indies, a think tank. “Jack Warner may be a criminal in the rest of world, but here Jack is who they would have been if they had the chance,” she said. Warner has slim chances of fleeing his native Trinidad and Tobago, where he is fighting the US bid to extradite him on corruption charges, the country’s attorney general said Wednesday.

Warner, who was arrested after the United States indicted him and 13 other football officials and marketing executives in a sweeping corruption investigation, is currently free on $40,000 bail pending extradition hearings.

Trinidadian Attorney General Garvin Nicholas said the country had taken measures to prevent him from fleeing, tightening the net already around him since the United States had Interpol put Warner on its most wanted list and issue an international red alert. “We certainly made it a lot more difficult for him to escape or to leave the country, and with the Americans taking the further step of issuing the red warrant it means that every country is now alerted should he attempt to enter another country,” Nicholas told journalists.

“Together with the American authorities I think we have done all that we can to ensure that Mr. Warner makes himself available when the time comes.”

Warner, a politically powerful lawmaker and millionaire, has to present himself to police twice a week under his bail terms.

“Any person with the level of resources that Mr. Warner has would be considered a flight risk, and that is why the arrest took place and his passport was surrendered,” said Nicholas, who said his office had been cooperating with the US investigation for two years. He said the extradition case against Warner, who denies the charges against him, could take years.

Warner, 72, is accused of taking a $10-million bribe to help South Africa win the contest to host the 2010 World Cup, among other charges.

Since his indictment he has waged a mass media campaign in Trinidad and Tobago to proclaim his innocence.

After Warner threatened to unleash an “avalanche” of dirty secrets about world football governing body FIFA, British comedian John Oliver took to the Trinidadian airwaves Tuesday to encourage him to do just that.

“I am begging you, release everything, because, why the hell not? It’s not like you are not already potentially in a lot of trouble,” Oliver said in a paid five-minute spot on TV6, one of the same outlets Warner has used to stage his defence. (AFP)

He urged him to follow the example of Chuck Blazer, the US football executive who was also indicted in the sting and agreed to cooperate with investigators.

“You have as many delicious secrets as he does, and you owe it to the whole world to tell us,” said Oliver, host of satirical news show “Last Week Tonight” on US channel HBO.

“For once in your life, Mr. Warner, don’t think about yourself, think about everyone else,” he said.

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