The committee said companies confronted with evidence of illicit payments generally offered one of four justifications.

While 31 percent of all respondents said they had taken illicit payments, the number was 33 percent for younger players, with some differences among conferences.

And the press once again claimed Barcelona backers had made illicit payments.

So far, no recipients of such illicit payments have been traced.

The bills for the work are then routinely padded to cover the illicit payments.

Once, the government said, a man who was late on his illicit payments was taken to the branch's conference room and beaten with a cane.

The accusations included charges of illicit payments to Wolfpack players and cheating on drug tests.

A captain, whose official pay is $180 a month, may get as much as $5,000 monthly in illicit payments.

Any illicit payments were financed by the people who bought the cars.

An underground economy of illicit payments and tax evasion has reached huge proportions.