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<ul><li>Nine Indian working professionals have been stranded in the United Arab Emirates(UAE) after being assured on WhatsApp that they will get jobs in the country. </li><li>The victims claimed that they paid over ₹70,000 to get visitor visas for UAE. </li><li>According to the Indian embassy in Dubai, there are nearly 40 such cases and police investigations are on. </li><li>The UAE extended 2,394 new licenses to foreign nationals in June this year — including Indians. </li><li>Fake recruiters duped over 75 Indian employees in Qatar in the month of April.</li></ul>In the backdrop of rising unemployment in India, the desperation for jobs has led to many scams and fake job scams. Lured by such <keyword id="462967" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="fake-job-offers">fake job offers</keyword> in Dubai, nine Indian working professionals have been left stranded in the <keyword id="6354870" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="United-Arab-Emirates">United Arab Emirates</keyword> (UAE). The job seekers were assured jobs in Dubai via social media platforms like WhatsApp. "A WhatsApp message that promised jobs in the UAE within 15 days was being widely shared in Kerala, and I also received the forwarded message. I really thought it was genuine as many people were showing interest," <a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/nine-indians-stranded-in-uae-after-accepting-fake-job-offers/articleshow/70315412.cms">TOI reported</a> citing one of the victims, Fazil. Claiming to be jobless at the moment, the victims said that they spent over ₹70,000 to get visitor visas for UAE by racketeers in Kerala. "I chatted with the agent who convinced me that I will have a job in a supermarket as soon as I land. He told me I will get Dh1,200 as monthly salary and free food and accommodation. I was going through tough times, and thought it would be a good start for me," said Fazil, a qualified technician. When they landed in Dubai, that they realised they had been tricked. According to the victims, a local agent took them to Ajman and Al Ain. The Indian embassy in Abu Dhabi has now pitched in to send them back home. This is, however, not the only case. Last month, five men were left without jobs in Dubai, who moved on visitor visas to the country. "We have reported about 40 such cases to Indian authorities and police investigations are on. That is important to deter these illegal agents from duping more people," the embassy told The Khaleej Times. The embassy has thus warned the jobseekers to use official channels and follow immigration rules. On the flipside, the <a href="https://www.khaleejtimes.com/uae/dubai/7600-jobs-created-in-dubai-last-month-">UAE extended 2,394 new licenses</a> to foreign nationals in June this year — including Indians. Fake recruitments have duped over <a href="https://english.mathrubhumi.com/news/nri/fake-recruitment-to-qatar-75-including-keralites-duped-1.3974659">75 Indian employees</a> in Qatar as well, in the name of a company Ceprotec. The candidates gave their passports to the recruiters and also paid nearly ₹65,000 for visas. Company job portals and embassies have now started to warn potential job seekers on their website about fake job offers. See also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/the-uae-government-is-wooing-indian-teachers-offering-10-times-higher-pay-than-their-current/articleshow/69021762.cms">The UAE government is wooing Indian teachers — offering 10 times higher pay than their current</a>

Caution! WhatsApp job scams leave Indians stranded in Middle East

In a shocking turn of events, Mathura Police has arrested a first-year undergraduate student of BBA with 160 <keyword id="74492" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Fake-passports">fake passports</keyword>. Most of these passports were of Arab countries. The cops are suspecting a whole racket of fake passports, being operated from his PG room. 
 
The name of the accused is Vikas Kumar, and he belongs to Gopalganj in Bihar. According to Mathura SSP Rakesh Singh, he was arrested from his PG room once his landlord alerted cops after being suspicious of his activities. 
 
"Kumar was allotted a college hostel room, but the college administration threw him out of the hostel after finding his activities suspicious. He shifted from there and took up a PG accommodation but there too the owners found his behaviour very strange as he used to change the lock of his room every alternate day. He never contacted or talked to anyone and preferred stay inside his room," the SSP told TOI. 
 
After getting the complaint from the landlord, a police team raided his room where they found 160-odd passports both from India and Arab countries. They also recovered some job certificates and interim visa applications, along with a laptop, several mobile phones and SIM cards. 
Most of these passports belonged to people who want jobs in Arab countries, many of them in Iraq and Dubai. 
 
"Kumar earlier worked with a travel agency in New Delhi. We suspect that he runs a fake job racket. He used to monitor job vacancies in Arab countries, get fake passports made of Indian people, get them fake job experience certificates along with visa and other documents. He earned money from both companies and applicants in this manner," Singh added. 
 
The police team and IB want to know the names of the people involved in this racket, as it’s not possible to run such a huge business all alone. He would be further interrogated in custody so that the matter can be solved. 

	 
	<a href="http://fakepassports.info/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/fakepassports.jpg">Image source</a>

BBA student arrested with 160 fake passports of Arab countries

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"></div></div></div>Visa has issued the most critical statement yet from a World Cup sponsor in reaction to the <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/report-fifa-officials-arrested-on-corruption-charges-will-be-extradited-to-the-us-2015-5?r=US">arrests of several FIFA officials on Wednesday on racketeering and corruption charges.</a>In a statement released on its corporate website, Visa - which has a contract with FIFA to sponsor the World Cup until 2022, at an estimated value of $185 million (£120 million) over a four-year tournament period, according to sponsorship agency BrandRapport - threatened that it would "reassess" its sponsorship if football's governing body does not make changes.The full statement reads:Our disappointment and concern with FIFA in light of today's developments is profound. As a sponsor, we expect FIFA to take swift and immediate steps to address these issues within its organization. This starts with rebuilding a culture with strong ethical practices in order to restore the reputation of the games for fans everywhere.Visa became a sponsor of FIFA because the World Cup is one of the few truly global sporting events with the power to unite people from around the world through a common love of football. Our sponsorship has always focused on supporting the teams, enabling a great fan experience, and inspiring communities to come together and celebrate the spirit of competition and personal achievement - and it is important that FIFA makes changes now, so that the focus remain on these going forward. Should FIFA fail to do so, we have informed them that we will reassess our sponsorship.Other sponsors have reacted to the corruption scandal engulfing FIFA in light of yesterday's news, but Visa's statement is the most strongly-worded and the only statement to suggest it could pull its support.<a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/adidas-statement-on-arrest-of-fifa-officials-2015-5?r=US">Adidas was first to issue a statement</a>: "The Adidas Group is fully committed to creating a culture that promotes the highest standards of ethics and compliance, and we expect the same from our partners. Following today's news, we can therefore only encourage FIFA to continue to establish and follow transparent compliance standards in everything they do. Adidas is the world's leading football brand and we will continue to support football on all levels."Coca-Cola: "This lengthy controversy has tarnished the mission and ideals of the FIFA World Cup and we have repeatedly expressed our concerns about these serious allegations. We expect FIFA to continue to address these issues thoroughly. FIFA has stated that it is responding to all requests for information and we are confident it will continue to cooperate fully with the authorities."McDonald's: "McDonald's takes matters of ethics and corruption very seriously and the news from the U.S. Department of Justice is extremely concerning. We are in contact with FIFA on this matter. We will continue to monitor the situation very closely."Budweiser: "We expect all of our partners to maintain strong ethical standards and operate with transparency," <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/05/27/soccer-fifa-budweiser-idUSL1N0YI19920150527">the brewer told Reuters.</a>Hyundai: <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/05/28/soccer-fifa-sponsors-idUSL1N0YJ06M20150528">Told Reuters</a> it was "extremely concerned."Gazprom: <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-05-27/fifa-sponsors-adidas-coke-seen-looking-at-ties-after-indictment">Told Bloomberg</a> Wednesday's news "doesn't influence" the Moscow-based gas company's sponsorship agreement, which is in place until the end of the 2018 World Cup in Russia. <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/cool-glass-one-debuts-at-ces-asia-google-china-2015-5">This is the Chinese version of Google Glass and it's only a fraction of the price</a></h3> <div> <div> <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="duM3didToK0u40zpF3Klk37qnf7sNQqa" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div> </div> </div> </div>

World Cup sponsor Visa threatens FIFA: If you fail to make changes 'we will reassess our sponsorship'

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Hundreds have sued Pornhub, saying videos of their abuse remained online despite their protests.</li><li>Age-verification requirements for Pornhub users in 19 states will be weighed by SCOTUS this fall.</li></ul>It took just a few minutes for anti-trafficking activist Laila Mickelwait to log on to <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/pornhub-videos-that-shouldve-been-removed-stayed-up-for-months-2023-3">Pornhub,</a> type the search term "homeless," and find a disturbing amateur video, the kind she complains about in her new book, "Takedown.""You can hear the woman yelling to stop because it hurts," she said recently of the video, which includes a tag showing it's been on the site five years. "She's angrily telling the man to shut the camera off and stop filming."Mickelwait used the same search term to quickly find another video that shows a woman described in its title as a "crack whore." The woman is heard complaining bitterly as she submits to sex in return for what the title mockingly claims is five dollars."We have no indication she even knows this is being filmed," Mickelwait said of this video, which has been on the site for two years. "You cannot see the woman's face, so it would be impossible to verify."Pornhub, launched in 2007 and based in Montreal, lets users upload amateur and professional porn videos in much the same way users upload to YouTube.It's been four years since a wave of news accounts revealed that the site was infested with non-consensual videos of rape, sexual assault, child porn, and footage from hidden cameras.Advertisers, streaming platforms, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mastercard-visa-pornhub-cut-off-payments2020-12">and credit card companies</a> cut ties en masse, and the site took down 80% of its content.Since then, Pornhub has enacted <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://help.pornhub.com/hc/en-us/categories/4419836212499-Our-Commitment-to-Trust-and-Safety">a detailed system of safeguards</a> to keep illegal and abusive content off the site. Users who upload videos must submit government-issued photo IDs. In January, the site began requiring these IDs for "performers" in all new videos."No platform on the internet has taken the significant steps we have to protect the safety and security of our community," said Sarah Bain, a spokeswoman for <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/pornhubs-new-owner-wont-reveal-mindgeek-bosses-names-due-stigma-2023-3">Ethical Capital Partners</a>, a Canadian private equity firm that owns the Pornhub network of adult-content sites."We have taken unprecedented steps to mitigate the ability of bad actors to upload illegal material on our platforms," including using AI technologies and human monitoring to police content, she said.But legal repercussions from those pre-purge days — including federal monitoring and an ever-growing number of lawsuits — are still rippling through Pornhub and its network of user-generated porn sites."Performers" remain unverified in many thousands of pre-2024 videos, including those that pop up from search terms involving teens and violence, Mickelwait told Business Insider.It's these kinds of videos — uploaded without any verification of the age or consent of those depicted — that now drive Mickelwait's fight to knock Pornhub out of business.Without verification, there's no way to know if the "performers" consented to the performance — or to its posting on Pornhub. "You actually don't know if they're 18, or if it's revenge porn, or if it's rape," Mickelwait said.<h2 id="6eb78c56-8852-4b74-9c18-5fa6405ac746">Lawsuits and monitoring</h2>An ever-growing number of lawsuits by some 300 plaintiffs allege the site knowingly profited from videos of their abuse. More lawsuits are being readied, plaintiff lawyers told BI. Lawyers for Pornhub did not return requests for comment on these suits.In yet another ripple, Pornhub's parent company, Aylo — formerly MindGeek — was ordered last year to submit to three years of <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-edny/pr/pornhub-parent-company-admits-receiving-proceeds-sex-trafficking-and-agrees-three-year">federal monitoring </a>of its content and screening. Aylo is the parent company for a network of porn sites, including Pornhub, PornhubPremium, Brazzers, YouPorn, Reality Kings, Men.com, TransAngels and Nataku.Details of that monitoring — part of a deferred prosecution agreement from the Pornhub network's years of hosting hundreds of videos from the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/girls-do-porn-victims-sue-pornhub-mindgeek-40-million-2020-12">GirlsDoPorn sex-trafficking ring </a>— have not been made public. A law enforcement source told BI last week that an announcement will be made soon.<div type="image" title="An image of the book &quot;Takedown: Inside the Fight to Shut Down Pornhub,&quot; by anti-trafficking activist Laila Mickelwait." height="946" width="820" msid="111927613" hostid="261"></div>Pornhub remains a thriving user-generated adult entertainment site, boasting 100 million visits a day.But as detailed in her new book — to be released by Random House on Tuesday and written like a detective thriller — Mickelwait has landed some round-house punches.<h2 id="d11684aa-56af-4a27-bd30-76a0a5cad3ec">A one-woman fight to sink Pornhub</h2>Mickelwait is the founder of the nonprofit <a target="_blank" href="https://justicedefensefund.org/">Justice Defense Fund</a>. Her <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://traffickinghubpetition.com/">Traffickinghub</a> petition, which calls for an end to Pornhub, has 2.3 million signatures.The mother of two began her fight against the online porn empire in early 2020, as horror stories began to mount.Nearly two dozen videos uploaded to Pornhub showed a 12-year-old Alabama boy being repeatedly drugged and raped. The rapist, Rocky Shay Franklin, is now serving <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-mdal/pr/man-sentenced-40-years-sexual-exploitation-child-advertising-child-porn-and">a 40-year prison term</a> for sexual exploitation.A 15-year-old Florida girl who went missing for a year <a target="_blank" href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/crime-courts/florida-man-arrested-after-videos-missing-teen-surface-pornography-website-n1072141">was found </a>when a Pornhub user reached out to the girl's mother. "The mother found fifty-eight videos of her child being raped on Pornhub," Mickelwait writes.An investigation in the Sunday Times of London revealed illegal videos on the site involving children as young as three.Mickelwait's book — its full title is "Takedown: Inside the Fight to Shut Down Pornhub for Child Abuse, Rape, and Sex Trafficking" — details her public and behind-the-scenes efforts to expose the site's outrages and publicly shame its business partners.A spectrum of influential voices, including former progressive New York Times columnist <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mastercard-visa-pornhub-cut-off-payments2020-12">Nicholas Kristof</a> and conservative hedge-fund titan <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/bill-ackman-endorses-trump-after-assassination-attempt-2024-7">Bill Ackman</a>, has amplified Mickelwait's activism.In response to the outcry, advertisers Heinz, Unilever, and even KY Jelly pulled their ads off Pornhub, and credit card companies severed their ties. MindGeek, the name of the parent company for Pornhub at the time — which then had more traffic than Amazon or Netflix — purged 10 million unverified videos almost overnight."In less than 24 hours, 80% of the entire site is gone," Mickelwait writes. "The 10th-largest website in the world has just been cut down to a stump."<div type="image" title="A headshot of anti-trafficking expert Laila Mickelwait, author of the book Takedown: Inside The Fight To Shut Down Pornhub For Child Abuse, Rape, And Sex Trafficking." height="1667" width="2500" msid="111927623" hostid="261"></div>"Laila is a one-woman wrecking crew, with two babies in her arms and a keyboard," said Mike Bowe, a Manhattan-based attorney who represents 34 women accusing Pornhub of <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/pornhub-mindgeek-sued-by-34-women-alleged-trafficking-videos-2021-6">sex trafficking</a> and child pornography in an ongoing federal racketeering lawsuit out of California filed in 2021."I've never seen someone with so few resources make such a big impact on such an important issue," Bowe told Business Insider.Hedge-funder Ackman's public outcry after Kristof's devastating Times investigation — titled "The Children of Pornhub" — is credited in the book with pressuring Mastercard and Visa to abandon the site."Laila Mickelwait is a superstar advocate and activist who has single-handedly led the charge against Pornhub and its facilitation and monetization of child sex trafficking," he tweeted last week. <h2 id="b99be0d2-93b7-4096-9f2d-14c2557cac2b">Pornhub's growing legal problems</h2>These days, Mickelwait hopes spiraling legal troubles — and potential damages in the tens of millions of dollars — will be Pornhub's knock-out blow.Business Insider has found lawsuits on behalf of nearly 300 plaintiffs who allege that back before the 2020 purge, videos of their abuse were uploaded to Pornhub without their consent and remained on the site for weeks or months after they were flagged.Pornhub's owners, advertisers, credit card partners, and hedge-fund financiers raked in millions, these lawsuits allege.More than a dozen of these lawsuits were filed in the past month alone, and many more may be on the way. "We are in the process of filing cases on behalf of approximately 250 victims, with more reaching out weekly," Bowe told BI.In a nod to the scope of this litigation tsunami, a federal judge in California used the phrase "tens of thousands of children" in a November order granting class certification to one of at least two class-action trafficking suits against Pornhub and MindGeek, which rebranded last year as Aylo."There is evidence from the defendants' own records demonstrating the presence of thousands of pieces of CSAM on their sites," in previous years, US District Judge Cormac J. Carney <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24888992-mindgeek-class-cert-order">wrote in the order</a>, using the acronym for child sexual abuse material.<div type="image" title="An excerpt from a California federal judge's November order granting class-action status to one of dozens of Pornhub lawsuits." height="448" width="1194" msid="111927618" hostid="261"></div><h2 id="33ca5276-1756-446f-84d2-6fdea78df9c7">Hundreds of accusers</h2>The allegations in the lawsuits are heartbreaking.In 2020, 40 women — victims of the "Girls Do Porn" sex-trafficking operation — sued Pornhub in federal court in California, alleging the company knowingly profited from illegal videos of their abuse. In October, the list of plaintiffs in that case grew to 121 women.A 2022 lawsuit says Pornhub profited from the videos of the 12-year-old Alabama boy who was drugged and repeatedly raped — and for five months ignored demands by police that the videos be taken down."I ended up trying to kill myself many times. I ended up in mental hospitals," Serena Fleites, the lead plaintiff in Bowe's 34-plaintiff trafficking suit, said 2021, while testifying at a hearing before the Canadian Parliament, according to Mickelwait's book.Fleites was a 14-year-old 8th grader in Bakersfield, California when a boy a year older than her, who she had a crush on, asked her to film naked videos of herself. The boy shared the videos with friends, and someone uploaded them to Pornhub."There were instances where the video would have literally 2.7 million views," she told lawmakers investigating the parent company. "And it would still be on Pornhub despite hundreds of comments saying: 'Oh this is definitely child pornography. That girl can't be any more than fourteen, thirteen.'"And yet Pornhub still wouldn't take it down, even when I messaged them multiple times," she testified.<h2 id="40d8720e-2e96-4a39-8f1f-4aa6dc03fdb4">Legislation in 19 states</h2>Pornhub, Aylo, and Ethical Capital Partners are aggressively fighting these lawsuits, some of which are nearly four years old. The companies deny knowingly profiting from illegal and abusive content and insist that <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://help.pornhub.com/hc/en-us/categories/4419836212499-Our-Commitment-to-Trust-and-Safety">reforms</a> now keep such content off the site."Out of respect for the integrity of court proceedings, our policy is not to comment on ongoing litigation," said Ethical Capital Partner's spokeswoman, Bain."We look forward to the facts being fully and fairly aired in that forum. We believe in fair and just outcomes, we are committed to working with law enforcement and regulators to respond to ever-changing threats and challenges, and we will continue to expand our practices to be at the forefront of the industry and protect the safety and security of our users," she said.Pornhub and Aylo are also fighting hard against recent <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://exoduscry.com/pcnp/tracker/">legislation in 19 states</a> that requires users to verify they are 18, typically by requiring anyone registering to use the site to upload government-issued proof of age.In protest of these restrictions, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.pcmag.com/news/pornhub-blocked-texas-age-verification-vpn">Pornhub has blocked access</a> from IP addresses for at least nine states with such laws, according to pcmag.com. Users who try to log on to Pornhub from IP addresses in those states instead get <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2024/07/16/pornhub-blocks-access-by-nebraska-users-as-age-verification-law-takes-effect/">a message from adult film actor Cherie DeVille</a>, telling them to complain to their local representatives.Pornhub's lawyers have sued the attorneys general in these states, challenging the constitutionality of their user age-verification laws.Their challenge to Texas's age-verification law is set to be heard by the US Supreme Court during its fall term. It's a case that would decide the legality of these laws coast to coast."Most consumers in general do not feel comfortable uploading their IDs" when online, noted Mike Stabile, director of public policy for the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.freespeechcoalition.com/">Free Speech Coalition</a>, an adult entertainment trade association that has joined in fighting the lawsuits."That's doubly more sensitive when you're dealing with adult content," he said.Stabile added that if Mickelwait finds something of concern, she should report it."Historically, what Laila has done is air it through the press," he said.Mickelwait said that she has reported many hundreds of videos to law enforcement and anti-trafficking watchdogs.Most recently, she said, she reported to state authorities the Pornhub video showing a woman shouting in pain and asking not to be filmed."It's critical to bring justice to these victims, but also to be a deterrent to future abusers," she told BI. "Pornhub, to this day, is still a crime scene that needs to be shut down and its owners held accountable."

Pornhub is awash in lawsuits by hundreds who say they never consented to the videos uploaded on the site

<ul class="summary-list"><li>A <keyword id="6364357" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="farm" source="Orion">farm</keyword> in <keyword id="11896956" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="texas" source="Orion">Texas</keyword> owned by one of the US' biggest potato growers didn't pay overtime premiums, the DOL found.</li><li>The DOL says it had since recovered more than $1.3 million in back pay for almost 500 warehouse workers.</li></ul>A farm in Texas paid more than $1.3 million in back wages after an <a href="https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/whd/whd20220217">investigation</a> by the <keyword id="12011978" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="department-of-labor" source="Orion">Department of Labor</keyword> (DOL) found it failed to pay its workers a premium for overtime hours.The Dalhart, Texas farm – operated by Blaine Larsen Farms, one of the US' biggest potato growers – also failed to properly report an outbreak of COVID-19, the DOL said.Idaho-headquartered Blaine Larsen, often known as Larsen Farms, violated the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) by not paying almost 500 warehouse staff time-and-a-half when they worked more than 40 hours a week, the DOL said. The department said that it had recovered almost $1.35 million in back wages for the warehouse workers.The farm, situated in the northwest of Texas' Panhandle region, also violated sections of the Immigration and Nationality Act by providing incomplete pay statements to H-2A workers and by letting drivers transport workers without the proper license, the DOL found. The H-2A program permits employers to bring foreign nationals to the United States to temporarily fill agricultural jobsThe farm additionally failed to properly report an outbreak of COVID-19, violating the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's <a href="https://www.osha.gov/laws-regs/regulations/standardnumber/1910/1910.142">temporary labor camp standards</a>, the DOL said.Larsen Farms didn't immediately respond to Insider's request for comment, made outside of regular working hours.The labor department said it also investigated Larsen Farms twice in 2020. A criminal complaint against the company was filed by the labor department's Office of the Inspector General's Office of Labor Racketeering and Fraud Investigations in July 2020, which alleged that a manager demanded workers from Mexico pay up to $1,500 each to get work visas.The firm was investigated by the labor department again in August the same year after two workers at two other Texas farms operated by the company died from COVID-19, amid what the department said were "allegations that federal workplace safety requirements were ignored."While workers in some industries were able to work from home during the pandemic, farm laborers were not, and in some cases they <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/farmworkers-usa-immigrants-legal-status-coronavirus-pandemic-covid-2020-9">put themselves at risk of catching COVID-19</a>. Agricultural workers were among the groups that experienced the biggest jump in mortality rates during the first seven months of the pandemic, per a <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.01.21.21250266v1.full.pdf">study</a> by the University of California, San Francisco.The agricultural industry also pays relatively low wages. In May 2020, almost 300,000 people worked as farmworkers and laborers at crop farms, nurseries, and greenhouses across the US, earning an average of less than $15 an hour, per estimates from the <a href="https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes452092.htm">Bureau of Labor Statistics</a>."The pandemic highlighted the essential contributions agricultural workers – including workers in the H-2A visa programs – make every day to feed the nation and support our <keyword id="11893570" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="economy" source="Orion">economy</keyword>," Jessica Looman, the DOL's acting wage and hour division administrator, said in a <a href="https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/whd/whd20220217">press release</a>. "In return for their hard work, they must be paid all of their wages and protected from workplace hazards."

A Texas farm owned by one of the US' biggest potato growers paid over $1.3 million in back wages to workers after denying them overtime pay

<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="6469208" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="clare-bronfman">Clare Bronfman</keyword>, a member of the multi-level marketing scheme and alleged sex <keyword id="6550757" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="cult">cult</keyword> <keyword id="7550442" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Nxivm">NXIVM</keyword>, has been sentenced to 81 months in prison for immigration and ID theft.</li><li>Bronfman, 41, and her sister Sara are heiresses to their father's multimillion-dollar Seagram's liquor fortune.</li><li>Bronfman used her fortune to fund NXIVM lawsuits against people who chose to leave the organization and speak out about its manipulation tactics.</li></ul>Top-ranking NXIVM member and Seagram's liquor heiress Clare Bronfman was sentenced to 81 months in prison on Wednesday, on charges of concealing immigrants and ID fraud.During her Brooklyn court appearance, she was also issued a fine of more than $500,000 and ordered to pay more than $96,000 to a migrant she brought to the US from Mexico, according to court documents obtained by Insider.Bronfman pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to conceal and harbor illegal aliens for financial gain after the prosecution cited evidence that she had smuggled and harbored six undocumented NXIVM members for monetary gain, promising pay and work visas but providing neither to these members. In an August letter to Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis, Bronfman said she was sorry for harming others, but that she still believed in NXIVM leader Keith Raniere, who was convicted last year of sex trafficking and conspiracy to commit forced labor. "Many people, including most of my own family, believe I should disavow Keith and NXIVM, and that I have not is hard for them to understand and accept," Bronfman wrote. "However, for me, NXIVM and Keith greatly changed my life for the better."Bronfman joined <a href="https://www.insider.com/nxivm-used-real-psychology-to-fetishize-vulnerability-manipulate-2020-9">NXIVM</a>, an alleged sex cult billed as a multi-level marketing company for self-improvement courses, in 2003 and rose to the top of its ranks as an <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/30/nyregion/clare-bronfman-nxivm-keith-raniere-sentence.html">executive board member 15 years later</a>.Before her prison sentence, Bronfman spent nearly $50 million on lawsuits on behalf of NXIVM. When former NXIVM members left the organization and spoke about the manipulation tactics its leaders used, they were often <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/28/nyregion/clare-bronfman-keith-raniere-nxivm-sentence.html">bombarded with lawsuits</a>.The prosecution said Bronfman promised one of the migrants $3,600 a month for her work, but the woman, identified as Jane Doe, only received $4,195 total of the $96,000 she was promised."[It was very difficult to] keep up the pace [of my work] with no income and with the uncertainty of not knowing how I will live each day," Doe said in an interview with the prosecution. Bronfman was also charged with ID fraud after pleading guilty for using the credit card and bank information of someone who had been dead for 15 months, racking up $135,000 in bills. Bronfman was previously charged with racketeering, which she denied, in 2018. After posting bail for $100 million, she was <a href="https://www.vice.com/en/article/qj47d3/heiress-who-bankrolled-sex-cult-leaders-legal-attacks-gets-nearly-7-years-in-jail">released on house arrest</a>.

Seagram's heiress Clare Bronfman has been sentenced to almost 7 years in prison for her involvement in the NXIVM cult

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"></div></div></div><ul class="summary-list"><li>An Australian sports journalist was mistakenly charged $100,000 for a bottle of beer during a work trip to England.</li><li>Peter Lalor, who was in the UK to cover the Ashes cricket series, was staying at the was staying at the Malmaison hotel in Manchester when a barmaid accidentally made him pay the eye watering sum.</li><li>"I didn't have my reading glasses when [the barmaid] presented me with a bill," <a href="https://twitter.com/plalor/status/1169544516048687105">Lalor said in a series of tweets</a>.</li><li>He was also charged a transaction fee of $2,499.59, and has been told by Visa he won't get his money back for nine working days.</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/?hprecirc-bullet">Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.</a></li></ul>Think the beer in in your local bar is pricey?Think again, says the Australian sports journalist who was mistakenly charged nearly $100,000 for a glass of the stuff at an English hotel.Peter Lalor, a cricket reporter who was visiting England to cover the Ashes cricket series, was staying at the Malmaison hotel in Manchester when a barmaid accidentally got him to pay the eye-watering sum for his bottle of Deuchers IPA."See this beer? That is the most expensive beer in history." <a href="https://twitter.com/plalor/status/1169544516048687105">Lalor tweeted alongside a photo</a> after realizing how much he'd been charged. "I paid $99,983.64 for it in the Malmaison Hotel, Manchester the other night. Seriously."&#xa0;He continued: "I didn't have my reading glasses when [the barmaid] presented me with a bill for the beer and when she had some problems with the machine I didn't think much of it, but it was eventually resolved, I said I didn't want a receipt and she went to leave."Something, however, made me ask 'how much did I just pay for that beer'. She checked, covered her mouth, started to giggle and refused to tell me, saying only there had been a mistake and she would fix it."Read more: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/american-tennis-star-fined-for-pretending-to-shoot-umpire-2019-9?r=US&amp;IR=T">An American tennis player has been fined $10,000 for pointing his tennis racket like a rifle at a US Open official</a>Lalor said the barmaid "kept giggling" before eventually fetching her manager, who insisted a refund would be arranged.&#xa0;He went on to say he had still not been given his money back, and that he was told by Visa he would have to wait nine working days before the money was put back into his account.Lalor also revealed he was charged a transaction fee of $2,499.59 to add insult to injury.<a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-49593291">Visa told the BBC</a> they are working to resolve the the error, but ultimately the responsibility lies with the card holder's bank.There was one silver lining for Lalor however: his beer didn't disappoint.&#xa0;"It's a good beer," he said. "The original version of it won a heap of awards, including the Supreme Champion Beer of Britain, but if you are thinking that no beer is worth the best part of $100,000, then I am inclined to agree with you."Read more:&#xa0;<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/bj-penn-banned-from-ufc-after-street-fight-2019-9?r=US&amp;IR=T">Dana White barred BJ Penn from fighting in the UFC after recent footage showed him getting in a street fight</a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/video-diego-schwartzman-point-of-us-open-loss-rafael-nadal-2019-9?r=US&amp;IR=T">Rafael Nadal won an epic 3-set US Open match, but Diego Schwartzman won the point of the tournament</a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/bianca-andreescu-makes-history-in-us-open-2019-9?r=US&amp;IR=T">A 19-year-old Canadian asked 'is this real life?' after stunning her US Open semifinal opponent, taking her one win away from a potential Serena Williams showdown</a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/zlatan-ibrahimovic-cuts-off-reporter-after-la-galaxy-seattle-sounders-2019-9?r=US&amp;IR=T">Zlatan Ibrahimovic proved once again that he's soccer's biggest ego with a brutal response to a reporter's harmless question</a><div></div>

An Australian sports journalist was accidentally charged $100,000 for a bottle of beer during a work trip to England, and he won't get his money back for over a week

Hello everyone! Welcome to this weekly roundup of stories from Insider from Business co-Editor in Chief Matt Turner. <a href="http://newsletter.businessinsider.com/join/4np/insider-weekly">Subscribe here to get this newsletter in your inbox every Sunday.</a>Read on for more on <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/the-top-29-gen-z-vcs-changing-venture-capital-2021-2">Gen Z VCs</a>, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/citibank-revlon-loan-900-million-mistake-payment-how-it-happened-2021-2">Citigroup's $900 million blunder</a>, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/walmart-healthcare-strategy-health-clinics-2021-2">Walmart slowing its healthcare ambitions</a>, and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/inside-gaia-video-streaming-website-conspiracy-theories-2021-1">what happened next at yoga brand Gaia</a>Read time: 5 1/2 minutes.Hello!Former President Donald Trump is set to speak at the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/cpac-2021-speakers-trump-pence-orlando-republican-conservative-2021-2">Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC)</a> in Orlando, Florida, next week, in his <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-to-make-first-public-appearance-at-cpac-convention-florida-2021-2">first public appearance since he left the White House</a>. Here's what's trending this morning.<ul><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/aoc-texas-fundraiser-doubled-4-million-as-lawmakers-tour-houston-2021-2">AOC doubled her fundraising total for Texas storm victims to $4 million, as she joined fellow lawmakers in Houston to continue relief efforts</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/biden-official-solarwinds-attack-response-may-come-within-weeks-2021-2">A Biden official says the White House's response to the SolarWinds attack may come within weeks</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/michelle-wie-west-roasts-rudy-giuliani-panties-comment-to-bannon-2021-2">Pro-golfer Michelle Wie roasts Rudy Giuliani after he shared a crude 'panties' story about her on Steve Bannon's podcast</a> </li></ul><h2><keyword id="159493" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Gen-Z">Gen Z</keyword> VCs</h2>From Margaux MacColl:Gen Z venture capitalists have made headlines by starting syndicates, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/gen-z-vcs-slack-movement-venture-capital-investing-tiktok-sway-2021-1">networking in Slack groups</a>, and making a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/vcs-flocked-to-bachelor-style-clubhouse-room-made-by-gen-zers-2021-2">racket on Clubhouse</a>. It has quickly become clear: Gen Z is already shaking up the venture-capital industry.There's no set path for Gen Z, people born between 1995 and 2010, to break into venture. Some landed their first jobs by <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/a-cold-email-landed-21-year-old-gaby-goldberg-a-vc-job-at-bessemer-2020-12">getting lucky with a cold email</a>, while others got the attention of bigwigs through ambitious personal projects. For example, one Gen Zer on our list landed his venture-capital job after writing a book at age 18 that impressed a venture-firm partner. Others are forgoing traditional firms entirely, opting instead to angel invest in startups led by Gen Z founders that they believe in.But there are some commonalities between the rising stars on this list: Almost everyone leverages social media in some way (see: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/why-founders-sign-venture-deals-with-tiktok-stars-sway-boys-2020-11">the three TikTok superstars</a>), many deeply understand the importance of <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/gen-z-is-reimagining-how-to-become-a-vc-2021-1">forming their own Gen Z venture-capital communities</a>, and pretty much all of them want to change the world.Read the full story here:<ul><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/the-top-29-gen-z-vcs-changing-venture-capital-2021-2">GEN Z VCS: Meet the top 29 up-and-comers changing the world of venture capital</a></li></ul>Also read:<ul><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/generation-z-banking-fintech-payments-social-media-growth-customers-2021-2">Fintechs are desperate to reach Gen-Z. Here's how they're using influencers like Charli D'Amelio to tap into what's soon-to-be the largest generation of US customers.</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/marqeta-ipo-confidential-filing-2021-2">Fintech startup Marqeta, valued at $4.3 billion, has confidentially filed paperwork to go public</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/why-google-loon-balloon-wifi-project-failed-pichai-page-astro-2021-2">Google blew $100 million a year building giant balloons to spread internet access. Insiders describe how Larry Page's passion project imploded.</a></li></ul><h2>Citi's $900 million blunder</h2><div type="image" title="Michael Corbat, CEO of Citigroup" height="2673" width="4009" msid="81140062" hostid="261"></div>From Yoonji Han and Dakin Campbell:It was around 9 a.m. on Aug. 12 when Arokia Raj first realized that something had gone terribly wrong.Raj, a member of a Citigroup team that processes and services asset-based loans, was reviewing the previous day's transactions when he noticed large gaps in the numbers - a discrepancy of just under $900 million.Raj quickly put two and two together: The figure matched, down to the decimal point, the outstanding principal balance on a loan that the beauty company Revlon had taken out nearly five years ago. With a few fatal clicks, Raj had mistakenly sent Revlon's lenders not just the accrued interest of less than $8 million, as intended, but also the total outstanding principal. Read the full story here:<ul><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/citibank-revlon-loan-900-million-mistake-payment-how-it-happened-2021-2">Inside Citigroup's $900 million error - one of the biggest blunders in banking history</a></li></ul>Also read:<ul><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/goldman-sachs-org-chart-top-executives-leadership-management-operating-committee-2020-9">Goldman Sachs has seen an exodus of senior executives in recent months. Here's our exclusive org chart mapping out the power structure of 135 top leaders.</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/cathie-wood-profile-ark-invest-etf-rise-success-following-tesla-2021-2">Cathie Wood made a career betting on the future. Insiders reveal how the ARK Invest founder won the funds (and hearts) of memelord traders and boomer investors alike.</a> </li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/pimco-accused-of-sexual-harassment-and-discrimination-in-lawsuit-2021-2">Pimco's former funds board chair and ex-communications executive face accusations of sexual harassment in lawsuit</a></li></ul><h2>Walmart's healthcare slowdown</h2><div type="image" title="Walmart Health" height="1875" width="2823" msid="81140063" hostid="261"></div>From Shelby Livingston and Blake Dodge:Walmart's ambitious plan to build thousands of low-cost health clinics across the country is slowing down, less than two years after the retail giant embarked on a big push to expand access to primary care.Walmart launched its <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sean-slovenski-on-walmart-healthcare-strategy-clinics-home-care-2019-9">first comprehensive health center in September 2019</a>. The one-stop-shop clinics were an attempt to leapfrog the competition and capture a piece of the $3.8 trillion industry while sending more people into Walmart stores.Walmart's <a href="https://corporate.walmart.com/newsroom/2019/09/13/our-goal-of-becoming-americas-neighborhood-health-destination-introducing-the-walmart-health-center">vision</a> was to become "America's neighborhood health destination." The push deeper into healthcare came as competitors like Amazon and CVS Health also bulked up their healthcare ambitions.Now Walmart's clinic strategy is in flux, Insider has learned from conversations with eight current and former employees, most of whom spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to speak with the press because of confidentiality agreements. Their identities are known to Insider.The most concrete sign of the slowdown is that the company isn't on track to meet its earlier projections for the number of clinics it wants to build this year, according to documents obtained by Insider.Read the full story here:<ul><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/walmart-healthcare-strategy-health-clinics-2021-2">2 years ago, Walmart secretly signed off on a plan to build thousands of health clinics. Now it's slowing its ambitious push into healthcare.</a></li></ul>Also read:<ul><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/big-tech-hamstringing-health-bets-common-problems-2021-2">Amazon and other tech giants want to upend healthcare, but time constraints, egos, and infighting are holding them back</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/cvs-health-ceo-karen-lynch-priorities-strategies-for-pharmacy-giant-2021-2">Pharmacy giant CVS bought a health insurer then rolled out hundreds of in-store clinics. CEO Karen Lynch shares how she'll make all the pieces work together.</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/covid-19-vaccine-sign-up-online-struggles-digital-divide-2021-2">Experts warned of the digital divide for years. Now it's 'life or death' as people struggle to sign up for online COVID-19 vaccinations.</a> </li></ul><h2>ICYMI: What became of Gaia</h2><div type="image" title="gaia conspiracy streaming 2x1" height="1200" width="2400" msid="81140064" hostid="261"></div>From Rob Price:Only a select group of employees were allowed to know about the corpse.It had surfaced in the valleys of southern Peru, and word quickly made its way to Jirka Rysavy, a former athlete from Czechoslovakia turned serial entrepreneur. Rysavy, now operating a young video-streaming service called Gaia, got to work, dispatching a video crew from the company's crystal-strewn headquarters in the shadows of Colorado's Rocky Mountains to document the find. The team was sworn to silence, hiding its mission even from coworkers.The body looked, at first glance, almost human. But the mummified cadaver had just three disturbingly long fingers on each hand. Each foot bore a trio of freakishly long toes. Its eyes were unnatural, alien slits.Read the full story here:<ul><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/inside-gaia-video-streaming-website-conspiracy-theories-2021-1">Gaia was a wildly popular yoga brand. Now it's a publicly-traded Netflix rival pushing conspiracy theories while employees fear the CEO is invading their dreams.</a></li></ul><h2>INVITE: Next-Gen founders on racial equity and inclusion in tech</h2>From Dominic-Madori Davis:The Black Lives Matter protests last summer helped fuel a new drive for diversity and inclusion in the workplace. But how far have we come since then? And how much farther do we have to go? Every industry in Corporate America has its own issues to grapple with. Insider is taking a deep dive into tech to talk to Next-Gen founders about racial equity and inclusion in this industry. On Thursday, February 25th at 12 PM ET, Dominic-Madori will moderate a panel featuring Vernon Coleman, CEO and cofounder of the video networking app Realtime, Jordan Walker cofounder of the audio messaging app Yac, and Urenna Okonkwo, founder of the finance app Cashmere.<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/live-event-and-exclusive-panel-racial-equity-in-tech-2021-2021-2">Sign up here to watch. </a>Lastly, don't forget to<a href="https://www.morningbrew.com/?utm_source=insider&amp;utm_medium=partnership&amp;utm_campaign=insiderweekly_h12021y_h12021" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> check out Morning Brew</a> - the A.M. newsletter that makes reading the news actually enjoyable.Here are some headlines from last week that you might have missed.- Matt<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/stock-picks-small-cap-mid-cap-smid-ideas-jp-morgan-2021-2">JPMorgan says 2021 is a stock-picker's paradise offering big money-making opportunities. Here are the firm's 22 highest-conviction small-cap investment ideas.</a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/h1b-visa-lottery-system-alternative-options-sponsorship-2021-2">H-1B visa regulations are changing. An expert and top Silicon Valley immigration lawyer share 4 alternatives to the lottery system.</a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/exclusive-asset-manager-divests-exxon-stocks-climate-concerns-2021-2">An asset manager overseeing nearly $100 billion divested from Exxon on concerns it is failing to move fast enough to address climate change</a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/pfizer-walmart-cdc-ran-ads-on-websites-peddling-vaccine-misinformation-2021-2">More than 4,000 advertisers including Pfizer, Walmart, and even the CDC ran ads alongside vaccine misinformation</a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/jeff-bezos-amazon-colin-bryar-vp-what-i-learned-2021-2">I'm a former Amazon VP who was there for 12 years and also served as Jeff Bezos' chief of staff. Here are the top insights I personally learned from him that have helped me in my career.</a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/klarman-baupost-spac-bets-q4-linkedin-founder-och-dragoneer-2021-2">Billionaire Seth Klarman's Baupost pumped nearly $200 million into 6 new SPAC bets in the fourth quarter</a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mrbeast-burger-team-on-influencer-ghost-kitchens-and-expansion-plans-2021-2">The startup behind MrBeast Burger sees a huge opportunity in influencer 'ghost kitchens' and plans to expand the brand to 1,000 restaurants</a>

Gen Z is already shaking up the venture-capital industry. Meet 29 up-and-coming investors.

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"></div></div></div>The arrests of several FIFA officials on Wednesday on racketeering and corruption charges has already led to a <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/visa-on-fifa-arrests-2015-5">number of big name sponsors questioning whether they will continue with their advertising contracts.</a><a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/report-fifa-officials-arrested-on-corruption-charges-will-be-extradited-to-the-us-2015-5?r=US"></a>But the charges, <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/report-fifa-officials-arrested-on-corruption-charges-will-be-extradited-to-the-us-2015-5?r=US">which relate to more than $150 million in alleged bribes and kickbacks from the 1990s to today</a>, not only place Qatar's 2022 World Cup hosting in jeopardy, they also could lead to some of the world's biggest brands suing FIFA for advertising and marketing money already spent on the event."When the news broke, I was absolutely flabbergasted, as this is huge. This is like no other. Even if you look prior to the corruption news, sponsors were already under huge pressure to pull out as there were hundreds of migrant workers that died building the infrastructure for the event," said Antony Marcou, managing director at sports marketing and tech group Sports Revolution."Now with the whole corruption scandal, this isn't just a question about whether a company should pull out of the World Cup, it's a question of whether Qatar will even host it anymore. As a massive corporation that signed a contract to sponsor Qatar, you would have committed to spend millions on active campaigns in the country and elsewhere. You'd have recruited people in local markets, spent money already on billboards and advertising, and everything else. It could be wasted spend."Companies could sue FIFA if the Qatar World Cup doesn't happen. Multinationals could also sue if they lost out on a contract and spent money bidding for it. The only people that are going to make a lot of money out of this, is going to be the lawyers."Visa, <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/visa-on-fifa-arrests-2015-5#ixzz3bQ7xeIty">which has a contract with FIFA to sponsor the World Cup until 2022</a>, at an estimated value of $185 million (£120 million) over a four-year tournament period, issued the most critical statement yet from a World Cup sponsor in reaction to the arrests of several FIFA officials.On top of that, other sponsors have reacted to the corruption scandal engulfing FIFA in light of yesterday's news.You can read what Visa, Coca Cola, Adidas, McDonald's, and Budweiser, <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/visa-on-fifa-arrests-2015-5#ixzz3bQ8H5zvv">say here.</a> <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/new-omega-globemaster-watch-unboxing-2015-5">Forget the Apple Watch - here's the new watch everyone on Wall Street wants</a></h3> <div> <div> <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="5iaDNwdDrYYMm2yipFb14ndbRkPnemqO" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div> </div> </div> </div>

The world's biggest brands could sue FIFA for millions over 'wasted' marketing budgets

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"></div></div></div>Adidas has become the first World Cup sponsor to publicly respond to the news Wednesday morning that FIFA was subject to two separate corruption probes, which resulted in the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/report-fifa-officials-arrested-on-corruption-charges-will-be-extradited-to-the-us-2015-5">arrests of several high-ranking officials.</a>The German sportswear company stopped short of being critical of football's governing body, but instead encouraged FIFA to maintain ethical and compliance standards.Adidas' statement in full, sent to Business Insider via email, reads:The Adidas Group is fully committed to creating a culture that promotes the highest standards of ethics and compliance, and we expect the same from our partners. Following today's news, we can therefore only encourage FIFA to continue to establish and follow transparent compliance standards in everything they do. Adidas is the world's leading football brand and we will continue to support football on all levels.FIFA is subject ot two separate criminal investigations. One from the <a href="https://www.admin.ch/gov/en/start/documentation/media-releases.msg-id-57391.html">Swiss Attorney General</a> regarding the voting process for the 2018 World Cup in Russia and the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, and the other from the US Department of Justice, which resulted in the arrest of nine FIFA officials and five corporate executives on Wednesday.An indictment from the <a href="http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/nine-fifa-officials-and-five-corporate-executives-indicted-racketeering-conspiracy-and">US Department of Justice</a> has charged 14 people with racketeering, wire fraud, and money laundering conspiracies in connection with their participation in a "24-year scheme to enrich themselves through the corruption of international soccer."In a press conference held in Zurich earlier today, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/fifa-on-arrests-this-is-a-good-day-for-fifa-2015-5">FIFA's spokesman Walter De Gregorio said this morning's arrests offer an opportunity to clean up the organization</a>.He added: "This for FIFA is good. It's not good in terms of image, it's not good in terms of reputation, but in terms of cleaning up, everything we did in the last four years, this is good."Business Insider has contacted all of the other FIFA World Cup sponsors for comment on today's arrest. The only other sponsor apart from Adidas to respond is automaker Hyundai, which said it would "not be making any comment at this time."Last year, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/visa-troubled-by-fifas-alleged-corruption-scandal-2014-11">several World Cup sponsors including Visa and Coca-Cola</a> came out publicly criticizing FIFA's handling of its investigation into the bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups. <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/offside-soccer-rules-world-cup-2014-6">Here's How Offside Works In Soccer </a></h3> <div> <div> <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="VpMnI5bjrYY23gQc8Nk-r0dMC8gi6M9b" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div> </div> </div> </div>

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