The Mossos d’Esquadra executed on December 7 a entry and registration at the FC Barcelona offices seeking evidence of alleged improper payments during the presidency of Josep Maria Bartomeu which could amount to 30 million euros, according to the sources consulted by EL PERIÓDICO. The order came from the Court of Instruction number 16 of Barcelona, which processes the complaint filed by the prosecutor’s office against the former Barça president and another person for the alleged irregularities found in an audit (‘forensic’) commissioned by the current management team of the entity. directed by Joan Laporta. Barça communicated to the prosecutor’s office in January of last year the conclusions of that report commissioned by the agency from the Kroll agency, which has led, after an arduous investigation, to the public ministry presenting this new complaint against Bartomeu. It is the third legal case that the former Barça president currently has open. The other two are the ‘Negreira case’ and the ‘Barçagate’.
The agents, by court order, appeared at the Barcelona offices to request documents linked to the alleged commissions for transfers of footballers, like forward Malcom who was signed in 2018; excessive payments to lawyers, some of them linked to another player, the alleged splitting of payments and the creation of companies to formalize disbursements. The Mossos seized documentation on these economic operations, although the judicial procedure is under summary secrecy. In the public presentation of the ‘forensic’ and before filing the complaint, Laporta maintained that in that audit “some alleged economic crimes” had been confirmed in the management of Bartomeu’s board. “There have been payments without cause, other payments with false cause, other payments have been disproportionate and disloyal behavior towards the club’s administration,” he stressed.
The agents took numerous documentation from the Barça offices regarding the payments of the previous board. Now they must investigate whether they were irregular or had caused significant damage to Barça’s coffers, as the current officials consider, who therefore filed a complaint with the prosecutor’s office. The Mossos must prepare a report with the documents seized after analysis.
The judicial and investigation sources indicate that the court also has required a lawyer to confirm an email about fees paid by Barça, which would amount to 1.7 million euros (it was paid in two years), for the agreement that the club reached with the prosecutor’s office and the Tax Agency for the non-payment of taxes on the signing of Neymar. This pact involved exonerating the former president of FC Barcelona, Josep Maria Bartomeu, and his predecessor, Sandro Rosell, for whom the prosecutor requested two years and three months in prison and seven years and six months, respectively, for different tax crimes. In addition, it meant savings of 17 million euros for the entity.
Laporta’s team maintains that “disproportionate and abusive amounts were paid to a law firm that directly or indirectly received amounts without any justification.” Firstly, 1.7 million euros “for a simple conformity agreement” and then for the signing of Griezmann. The lawyer defends that his fee for the agreement is in line with the market (10% of the savings) and that for signing the French forward he did not receive anything from the club, but from the player for other reasons.
Transfers and exchanges of footballers
Related news
The sources consulted assured this newspaper that the mossos They asked the current Barça management team during the entry and registration on December 7, documentation on the signing of some players, as well as exchange operations of footballers between clubs. Investigators are tracking whether there was payment of commissions to companies created solely to invoice the Barça club, such as one that received 10 million euros weeks later. for the signing of Malcom, Brazilian player who was signed in the summer of 2018 by Bartomeu paying 41 million euros to Girondins de Bordeaux. According to the club’s current directors, the commissions that are under suspicion are close to 5%, although some as high as 33% have been detected.
In addition, the ‘forensics’ detected possible “accounting alterations”, since supposedly player market prices were inflated to simulate non-existent or “artificial” benefits. “There was a deliberate distortion with the exchange of players,” the club defends. Those responsible for Barça did not finalize the operations, but it could be an exchange of footballers with Valencia (Neto to Camp Nou, Cillesen to Metalla) and with Juventus (Pjanic to Barça and Arthur to Juventus Turin). The FC Barcelona audit also detected the payment of 1.5 million to Club Esportiu Laietà by Bartomeu at the time so that they would not present allegations to the Espai Barça urban plan and the “illegitimate” disbursement of 15 million to a club for the right of first refusal. of young players, which could be Atlético de Madrid.
From Barçagate to Negreira
It is not the first time that the Mossos d’Esquadra have searched the Barça offices. On March 1, 2021, the agents went to search for documents on the ‘Barçagate case’ in which former president Josep Maria Bartomeu, as well as other former directors, are accused. They are accused of allegedly using club money to pay the company I3 Ventures so that, through fake social media accounts, they could attack players like Messi or Piqué; to journalists and people linked to Barça, such as the then candidate Víctor Font, the former president Joan Laporta or the businessman Jaume Roures.
Bartomeu admitted that he hired I3 Ventures to improve Barcelona’s image on social networks, but denied that he intended to damage people’s reputation since the company’s function was, according to the agreement with Barça, “contact surveillance services on social networks.” After accepting the complaint from the membership platform, Dignitat blaugrana, against Bartomeu and former manager Jaume Masferrer for unfair administration and corruption between individuals, the Investigative Court number 13 of Barcelona is in charge of investigating the case.
Negreira Case
It is not the only judicial case that affects FC Barcelona. The Court of Instruction number 1 of Barcelona investigates Joan Laporta, the former presidents Sandro Rosell and Josep Maria Bartomeu, as well as other directors for the more than 7.2 million euros that Barça paid to companies of the former vice president of the Technical Committee of Referees (CTA) José María Enríquez Negreira between 2001 and 2018.
Judge Joaquín Aguirre attributes a crime of bribery or sports corruption to them since he believes that, presumably, the money was used for Barça to obtain arbitration favors from the CTA appointments that Negreira was in charge of. Barça maintains that this money was for advisory work carried out by Enríquez Negreira and his son Javier, also investigated, although when they stopped paying him in 2018 the former number 2 of the referees threatened by fax to the Barça club to give “publicity to all the irregularities.” that I have known and experienced first-hand” and “without regard.”