Spanish high court judge Pablo Ruz has summoned Barcelona President Josep María Bartomeu to appear on Feb. 13 charged with tax fraud in the signing of Neymar, according to MARCA. Barça will "also be held to account as a legal entity." The judge has agreed to move forward with the case after prosecutors called on him to charge Bartomeu for alleged tax fraud committed in '14, in which the Treasury calculates that the president and the club engaged in fraud to the tune of €2.8M -- meaning Barcelona is charged with a total of three counts (MARCA, 2/3). ESPN's Dermot Corrigan reported the latest step in a "long-running saga" has seen Ruz accept the prosecutor's petition. Barcelona reacted to the "latest developments" with a statement saying it disagreed with moves to "charge both Rosell and Bartomeu for their roles in the transfer." While "always denying any wrongdoing during the complicated deal," Barça's board paid an extra €13.6M to Spain's tax authorities in Feb. '14. Bartomeu at that point said this payment was "just a precautionary measure, and he was confident the money would be returned as the club had always acted legally during the transfer" (ESPN, 2/3).
BARCELONA STATEMENT:
The club said in a statement on its website, "FC Barcelona wishes to express to its members its surprise,
indignation and total disagreement with the public prosecutor's petition
for the Club and its former president Sandro Rosell to face trial for
presumed misdemeanors in the transfer of the player Neymar da Silva
Santos Jr. In recent months, FC Barcelona has declared its innocence, and has
provided all of the documentation requested on numerous occasions and
which has been supported by various judicial testimonies. ... With respect to the specific request by the Public Prosecutors Office
to charge President Josep Maria Bartomeu for a supposed tax offence in
2014, FC Barcelona also wishes to declare its utter disagreement. In this case, the charge is related to a payment of five million
euros, the final part of the €40 million that the Club was obliged to pay
to the N&N company for the transfer of the player, and which it was
stipulated would be paid on 31 January 2014, eight days after the
change of president. ... It is FC Barcelona’s wish for the judge hearing this case to reject
the requests being made by the Prosecutors Office, as all of the actions
involved in the player’s transfer process were conducted with no intent
whatsoever to breach the law in any way" (
Barcelona).
