Barcelona soccer membership presents the ‘forensic report’ on the monetary administration below then-president Bartomeu.
Barcelona’s earlier board, led by former president Josep Maria Bartomeu, confirmed “very severe felony behaviour”, in accordance with a lawyer employed by the membership.
At Tuesday’s presentation of the membership’s “forensic report” on the monetary administration of Barca below Bartomeu, present president Joan Laporta additionally mentioned “funds with out trigger, funds with a false trigger or disproportionate funds have been discovered”.
Laporta added that “it couldn’t be dominated out that there was unfair reward for these individuals liable for these funds”.
The findings of the report prompted the membership to file a criticism with the prosecutor’s workplace in Barcelona final week. The prosecutor’s workplace started an investigation into “financial crimes” on Friday, a supply instructed the AFP information company.
Barcelona’s report, carried out by monetary investigations firm, Kroll, was initiated after the membership’s common director, Ferran Reverter, introduced the outcomes of an inside audit in October.
Reverter mentioned the membership was “technically bankrupt” when Laporta took over as president in March 2021, with the audit uncovering complete membership money owed of 1.35 billion euros ($1.52bn).
The presentation of the report was made within the places of work outdoors Camp Nou on Tuesday morning by Laporta, Eduard Romeu, Barcelona’s monetary vp, and Jaume Campaner, a company lawyer contracted to work on the investigation.
‘Very severe felony behaviour’
Campaner mentioned: “It’s not about pointing fingers or describing the administration of the earlier board as higher or worse, that’s not it.
“It’s about transferring data to the authorities that examine crimes and clamp down on this form of behaviour, which may be very severe felony behaviour.
“If I needed to outline it multi functional phrase, it will be: disloyalty. As a result of it’s cash from the members of FC Barcelona. That cash can’t be abused or given away as if it was yours.”
Campaner listed numerous alleged irregularities discovered within the report, together with attorneys being paid 7 million euros ($7.9m) for the “supposed signing of a participant”, commissions paid to brokers that have been inflated from 5 % to 33 %, and a cost of 15 million euros ($16.9m) made to a membership to safe the primary refusal on younger gamers, which Campaner mentioned had “no foundation in actuality”.
“The authorized phrase for that is false accounting,” Campaner concluded.
Bartomeu has defended his time as president, rejecting the figures introduced by the present board whereas blaming losses on the disaster brought on by the pandemic.
“Our administration was severe and accountable,” Bartomeu mentioned in an interview with Barcelona newspaper Mundo Deportivo in October.
‘Open to dialogue’
Laporta mentioned on Tuesday he was nonetheless “open to dialogue” with Bartomeu. He mentioned the membership’s wage invoice had been lowered by 159 million euros ($179m) below the present board.
Barcelona did not safe an exit for Ousmane Dembele within the January switch window, which closed on Monday night time, with Dembele now in a position to go away totally free when his contract expires in June.
Ferran Torres joined earlier within the month from Manchester Metropolis for 55 million euros ($62m), whereas Laporta mentioned Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s signing on a free switch from Arsenal ought to be accomplished this week.
Bartomeu appeared in a court docket in March and was launched pending corruption costs, after police carried out raids at 5 areas round Barcelona, together with the places of work at Camp Nou.
Greater than 200,000 Barcelona members had signed a petition to have Bartomeu eliminated as president however Bartomeu resigned in October 2020, earlier than a vote of no confidence may happen.