The government has confirmed that the Serious Fraud Office is actively reviewing material related to US action against the Fifa officials accused of corruption, bribery and racketeering in British overseas territories including the Cayman Islands.

Following a parliamentary question tabled by MP Paul Flynn, the solicitor general, Robert Buckland, confirmed that he held regular meetings with the director of the Serious Fraud Office and said it was “following closely the emerging allegations and holds material which it is actively reviewing”.

Flynn had specifically asked the attorney general for an assessment of the US indictments as they related to British overseas territories in the Caribbean, including the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands and the Turks and Caicos Islands.

Further confirmation of the SFO’s involvement came as it was reported that the journalists behind the only daily newspaper in the Cayman Islands had fled after being accused of “treason” for commenting on the US indictment, which accused the former Concacaf president Jack Warner and his successor Jeffrey Webb of a string of offences.

Warner’s former right-hand man over 20 years, the former Concacaf secretary general Chuck Blazer, pleaded guilty in 2013 after being confronted with millions of pounds in unpaid taxes on undeclared commissions.

It also emerged that the $10m sent from Fifa to Warner in 2008 never appeared in the annual accounts of the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) and nor did Fifa track the money to ensure it had been invested correctly. Fifa argued that it did not have the power to audit the CFU’s books as it was not a member organisation.

According to the Press Association, the CFU’s financial statement for 2008 makes no mention of the $10m payment going through its bank account, stating that its only revenue was $1m from tournament sponsorship and $15,000 in membership dues.

The US indictment alleges that the $10m, paid by Fifa and deducted from monies owed to the South African World Cup organising committee, was a bribe in return for Warner’s vote. The South African Football Association and Fifa have argued the payment was made in good faith to support a legacy programme.

As the net continues to tighten around the 14 football officials indicted by the US authorities, the Argentinian sports marketing executive Alejandro Burzaco handed himself in to police in Italy and has been placed under house arrest.

Burzaco was named on Interpol’s most wanted list last week with five other men with ties to Fifa. Burzaco and Hugo and Mariano Jinkis, also from Argentina, were named in the US indictment saying they bribed football officials in exchange for the media and commercial rights to international tournaments.

Burzaco, who is the president of the sports marketing company Torneos y Competencias, and the Jinkis’ companies merged to form part of Datisa, which obtained exclusive rights to the 2015, 2019 and 2023 Copa America tournaments as well as the 2016 centenary edition of the South American championship.

The indictment states that Datisa agreed to pay $110m in bribes to Webb, Eugenio Figueredo, Rafael Esquivel, José Maria Marin, Nicolás Leoz and several other soccer officials for the rights.