(ATR) A day after answering questions in a French court, IOC member in Namibia Frank Fredericks is reported to be facing preliminary charges involving an alleged vote-buying scheme to secure the 2016 Olympics for Rio de Janeiro.
Fredericks was questioned Nov. 2 by the financial crimes court in Paris, which issued the charges against the four-time Olympic silver medalist.
The IOC says its Ethics Commission will consider the developments against Fredericks next week.
Fredericks has come under suspicion for receiving a $299,000 payment to an offshore bank account on October 2, 2009. That’s the same day Fredericks and his IOC colleagues voted for the 2016 Olympic host. Rio was the winner among the five cities.
Fredericks has admitted receiving the money from Papa Massata Diack, the son of disgraced ex-IAAF president Lamine Diack. The Diacks are both suspected by French authorities of organizing the vote-buying scheme. But Fredericks maintains that the payment was connected to his work developing athletics among African youth, not a bribe for his vote.
"I categorically deny any direct or indirect involvement in any untoward conduct and confirm that I have never breached any law, regulation or rule of ethics in respect of any IOC election process," insisted Fredericks in March when the allegations surfaced.
The preliminary charges indicate prosecutors have mounted some evidence but allow additional time to investigate.
In March, when the accusations against Fredericks emerged, he self-suspended himself from his IOC membership and also resigned as the chair of the Evaluation Commission for the 2024 Olympics. In July, the IAAF provisionally suspended Fredericks from his seat on the ruling Council while the situation unfolds.
Spurred by the French inquiry, Brazilian prosecutors have charged Carlos Nuzman, the leader of the Rio bid and organizing committee in connection with the vote-buying scheme. Nuzman, an IOC member until 2012, self-suspended his honorary IOC membership at the time of his arrest last month.
Preliminary charges have already been lodged against Lamine Diack, who cannot leave France at this time. Son Papa Massata is wanted for questioning but refuses to do so voluntarily and remains in Senegal.
Reported by Ed Hula.
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