The president of FC Barcelona, Joan Laporta, testified this Monday before the judge as an investigator to respond to a complaint of an alleged fraud committed within the framework of his professional activity. A family that was given the Primitiva invested 2.4 million euros in a company CSSB Limited that offered a profitability of 6% for 3 years and in which Laporta appeared, which gave them a guarantee of rigor and solvency. They claim that the president, Sala Martín and Rafael Yuste appeared in a promotional brochure.
The Barça president has indicated that he was not a director of that company but was a joint director of Core Store, a company that held 57% of CSSB Limited, based in Hong Kong, and that was also the manager of Reus Deportiu. The project consisted of investing in a Chinese second division team that ultimately did not achieve promotion and whose projection was faltered due to Covid. In the hearing room, furthermore, the president has offloaded responsibility to Joan Oliver, former general director of Barça and TV3, who was in charge of managing both CSSB Limited and Core Store. “If the business has gone wrong, the responsibility lies with its managers,” he explained.
Laporta offloads responsibility to Joan Oliver, who was the administrator of CSSB Limited
The Barça president has denied having managed that investment, has highlighted that he did not sign any document and denounces that he has been linked to this matter to generate more noise and media attention since there were other shareholders who have not been reported. “They include me in the complaint because of my notoriety,” he reproached the judge, according to judicial sources.
His lawyer, Jordi Pujante, explained to the media that the conflict arose after “several investments in business projects that did not go as we wanted.” “Laporta has nothing to hide. He did not have any type of participation in these business projects that did not work and because of someone’s interest in involving him to give relevance to an issue that does not have it or to campaign against him, that is why he had to come here today,” he said. recriminated. His lawyer considers that the case has “little progress” and will wait for some diligence to be carried out and request the file of the case.
The Barça president’s lawyer believes that the case has little progress
The investigation into this matter was already archived from the beginning when the complaint fell on the table of the head of the 6th investigative court of Barcelona, Miguel Ángel Tabares. The magistrate asked the plaintiffs to ratify the complaint and after doing so he filed it considering that there was no crime. The Barcelona Court, however, forced the case to be reopened to carry out “essential procedures” such as the declaration of those investigated.
The family behind the lawsuit highlights that a key aspect to investing in the project was that Laporta also participated in it. In fact, they claim that they met with the then former president of Barça and he even invited them to the Camp Nou box. Laporta has assured that he did not know them, although the family’s lawyer, Joan Comás, has said otherwise. “He knows my clients personally. The operation was a failure,” he explained.
#Laporta #distances #accusation #fraud #include #complaint #notoriety
