Swiss Prosecutors Open 2006 World Cup Criminal Case Against German Football Hero Franz Beckenbauer

German football hero Franz Beckenbauer, along with three other German members of the 2006 World Cup organizing committee are he subject of a Swiss federal prosecutors investigation into financial wrongdoing to do with the 2006 World Cup

The allegations against the men are those of fraud, money laundering, criminal mismanagement and misappropriation of funds relating to a payment of 6.7 million euros ($7.3 million) linked to FIFA.

Three of the four suspects - Beckenbauer, Theo Zwanziger and Wolfgang Niersbach - are past or current members of the FIFA executive committee. Niersbach has been banned for one year by the FIFA ethics committee for not reporting suspected wrongdoing. His term expires in 2019.

Swiss prosecutors have named the fourth suspect as Horst Schmidt. He serveed as Vice President of the 2006 World Cup organizing committee.