The Justice Department has signed off on the first $32.3 million tranche of over $200 million in forfeited funds to FIFA and others from widespread corruption in the securing of TV and other media and marketing rights for international soccer.

Justice said well over that initial amount has been seized as part of the government's prosecution of that corruption. The money is being remitted to FIFA, the world soccer organizing body; CONCACAF, which oversees soccer in North and Central America; and CONMEBOL, which oversees South America, as well as various other soccer federations.

According to Justice, sports marketing companies paid bribes and kickbacks to soccer officials in exchange for the rights to various tournaments and events.

The $32.3 million is the beginning of the process of getting funds to the victims of the FIFA bribery scandal and out of the hands of the corrupt officials that took it.

“Not one official in this investigation seemed to care about the damage being done to a sport that millions around the world revere," said Michael J. Driscoll, assistant director-in-charge of the FBI’s New York Field Office. "The only silver lining is the money will now help underprivileged people who need it, not the wealthy executives who just wanted it to get richer. Our work isn’t finished, and our promise to those who love the game – we won’t give up until everyone sees justice for what they’ve done.”

This week's initial tranche of money comes from the forfeited assets and stems from a May 2015 indictment of 14 FIFA officials and sports marketing executives with racketeering, wire fraud and money laundering, plus a follow-on indictment of even more officials.

Many of the defendants were ordered to forfeit their ill-gotten gains and Justice is authorized to distribute forfeited assets through a remission process to victims of the crimes, including to the soccer organizations defrauded by corrupt executives.

Big Tech took another hit in Washington Friday as six people were indicted for bribing Amazon employees to get sales advantages and to disadvantage competitors in the powerhouse online market. It was an unfair competitive advantage the Justice Department said was worth in excess of $100 million and included reinstating suspect products like dietary supplements and potentially dangerous electronics.

The defendants were charged with conspiracy to use a communications facility to commit commercial bribery, as well as conspiracy to access a protected computer without authorization, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and wire fraud itself.

According to Justice, the accused paid over $100,000 to corrupt most of a dozen Amazon employees and contractors, who proceeded to facilitate attacks on competitors' accounts and listings, provide information on Amazon's internal algorithms and to benefit the defendants by reinstating products that had been suspended or blocked from Amazon, including dietary supplements that were the subject of consumer complaints, electronics identified as flammable, and products flagged for IP violations.

They also reinstated accounts that had been identified as deceiving consumers.

Also, in exchange for bribes the employees and contractors increased the defendant's storage limits in Amazon warehouses and provided insider information of the most successful online ad campaigns and product listings.

The defendants will make their initial appearances in a U.S. District Court in Seattle Oct. 15. They face up to a $250,000 fine and 15 years in prison on the bribery and unauthorized access charges and up to $250,000 and 20 years in prison for the conspiracy and wire fraud.

“As the world moves increasingly to online commerce [propelled in part by the COVID-10 pandemic], we must ensure that the marketplace is not corrupted with unfair advantages obtained by bribes and kick‑backs,” said U.S. Attorney Brian T. Moran in a statement. “The ultimate victim from this criminal conduct is the buying public who get inferior or even dangerous goods that should have been removed from the marketplace. I commend the investigators and cybersecurity experts who have worked to identify and indict those engaged in these illegal schemes.”

Fuller House star Lori Loughlin Wednesday was taken into custody and released on $1 million bond on charges of participating in a college admissions bribery scheme.

Loughlin, 54, was released on $1 million bond Wednesday after appearing in Los Angeles federal court in connection with federal charges that she and her husband Mossimo Giannulli allegedly paid bribes in an effort to get their two daughters into the University of Southern California. Loughlin will have to appear in court in Boston on March 29, according to published reports.

Loughlin turned herself in to FBI authorities earlier in the day as part of the sweeping college admissions scandal, in which more than 30 other people -- including Desperate Housewives star Felicity Huffman -- were also arrested and charged.

Loughlin was allowed to retain her passport and travel to Canada where she is currently filming a project, according to USA Today.

While Loughlin is arguably best known for her role as Rebecca Donaldson on the 1990's sitcom Full House -- as well as Netflix’s recent reboot of the series Fuller House -- she’s more recently become one of family-targeted Hallmark Network’s most recognizable stars. She’s appeared in several of Hallmark’s ratings-strong, Christmas-themed movies, including last year’s Homegrown Christmas and 2016's Every Christmas Has a Story.

Loughlin also stars in Hallmark’s drama series When Calls the Heart, now in its sixth season, as well as Hallmark Mysteries and Movies’ film series Garage Sale Mysteries.

Neither Netflix nor the Crown Media-owned Hallmark Channel -- whose family-friendly programming fare appeals to women across multiple age groups -- would comment on the matter.

Computer company HP has pulled a 2017 advertisement featuring Loughlin and her daughter Olivia Jade Giannulli due to the scandal, according to Fortune.