By Ryan Boysen

Law360 (May 14, 2020, 6:45 PM EDT) -- A former 21st Century Fox executive charged with bribing South American soccer officials wants the case against him tossed, claiming it appears the coronavirus pandemic prevented the grand jury that indicted him from reaching a quorum in March.

In a brief motion to dismiss filed Wednesday, ex-Fox sports marketing executive Hernan Lopez said the 53-count superseding indictment accusing him of wire fraud and money laundering was filed March 18, the same day Chief Judge Roslynn Renee Mauskopf of the Eastern District of New York said no grand jury in her district had achieved a quorum since March 13.

Lopez said there is "clearly some discrepancy" between those two events, because an indictment can't be filed unless a grand jury has achieved a quorum when making that decision, meaning the majority of its members are present.

Another indication something is amiss, according to Lopez, is that while the indictment itself was dated March 18, the true bill — a written declaration confirming the grand jury has a quorum and has heard enough evidence to indict — was "curiously … not dated."

"If in fact there was not a quorum present when the grand jury voted … this court must dismiss the indictment," Lopez said. "In the alternative, and at a minimum, these unusual circumstances and the tension created by [Judge Mauskopf's statement] and the government's statements warrant further factfinding by the court."

Lopez said that although the secrecy of grand jury proceedings is usually strictly protected, given the potential 20-year prison sentence tied to each of the charges against him and the very limited information needed to establish whether the grand jury did reach a quorum, an exception should be made in his case.

Lopez said the government has told him the grand jury did, in fact, have a quorum when it voted to approve the superseding indictment, but hasn't presented any evidence to back up that claim.

Recently attorneys have begun sounding the alarm bells about how the coronavirus pandemic might interfere with prosecutors' work, as many states have prevented grand juries from convening in light of the pandemic.

Lopez's motion to dismiss indicates those headaches are no longer mere speculation.

The superseding indictment against Lopez was unsealed last month, accusing Lopez and fellow former Fox sports marketing executive Carlos Martinez of bribing South American soccer officials to lock down lucrative broadcast deals, among other things.

Martinez does not appear to have filed his own motion for dismissal. Both men have been allowed to remain free after putting up $15 million appearance bonds last month.

The indictment also charges Gerard Romy, the former co-CEO of Spanish media company Imagina Media Audiovisual SL, and Uruguayan sports marketing company Full Play Group S.A. with similar offenses.

Romy is in Spain and had not been arraigned as of mid-April, while Full Play's attorney, Carlos Ortiz of Norton Rose Fulbright, has previously said the company "looks forward to vigorously defending itself against all charges at trial."

Late last month, Israel-based Bank Hapoalim and a Swiss subsidiary admitted they worked with Full Play to hide nearly $22 million in bribes paid to various soccer officials between 2010 and 2015. The bank agreed to pay roughly $30 million for that conduct under a nonprosecution agreement.

The charges in the superseding indictment are just the latest in a long-running probe into corruption in international soccer by U.S. prosecutors, first unveiled in 2015.

The probe has ensnared several other soccer officials across South America and elsewhere.

Former Brazilian soccer federation President Jose Maria Marin was convicted in December 2017 along with Juan Angel Napout — a former president of the South American soccer confederation CONMEBOL — of agreeing to receive millions of dollars in bribes from sports marketing executives in exchange for their votes to award lucrative television and media rights to major soccer tournaments. Many other defendants have pled guilty.

Lopez's attorney declined to comment, while the other parties involved did not respond Thursday to requests for comment. 

The government is represented by Samuel P. Nitze, M. Kristin Mace, Keith D. Edelman, Patrick T. Hein, Kaitlin T. Farrell, David C. Pitluck and Brian D. Morris of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York.

Martinez is represented by Steven McCool of McCool Law PLLC.

Lopez is represented by Matthew Umhofer of Spertus Landes & Umhofer LLP.

Full Play Group is represented by Carlos Ortiz of Norton Rose Fulbright, among others.

The case is U.S. v. Webb et al., case number 1:15-cr-00252, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.

--Additional reporting by Zachary Zagger and Stewart Bishop. Editing by Bruce Goldman.

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