The situation
The president of Real Madrid CF, Florentino Pérez, will appear as a witness in the trial against the former president of FC Barcelona Sandro Rosell , for the crimes of corruption in business and fraud in the signing of striker Neymar da Silva, also accused of a crime of corruption in that operation that ended with the Brazilian international at the Camp Nou. Pérez is one of the eighteen witnesses of the oral trial that will begin on October 17, in the Sixth Section of the Barcelona Court , and in which the Brazilian fund DIS and the Federation of Associations of Professional Athletes of Brazil will appear as private accusations (FAAP). According to the judicial order to which EFE has had access, the head of the Madrid entity is summoned to testify on October 18, on the second day of the trial, after DIS has proposed him as a witness. The Public Prosecutor requests 5 years in prison and a 10 million euro fine for Rosel l , for corruption and fraud, and 2 years in prison and another 10 million fine for Neymar , for corruption in the transfer operation. Instead, it exonerates the former president of the Barça entity, Josep Maria Bartomeu, vice president when the events occurred and who also appears as a defendant in the case.
The details
The prosecution understands that, in his case, despite signing the allegedly fraudulent contracts to sign the Santos striker between 2011 and 2013, he was not an active part of the negotiations. However, and although Barcelona ended up paying 25.17 million to Santos for the player’s rights and another 60 million for various concepts to the family business run by Neymar’s father (N&N Consultoria Esportiva), DIS only received 6.8 million for 40%. In the documentary evidence, DIS will also provide the interview that Florentino Pérez granted to the laSexta program ‘Jugones’, on February 3, 2016, and in which he assured that, by paying all the rights holders, the signing of Neymar, which was also claimed by Real Madrid, amounted to 150 million euros. The Brazilian fund now claims compensation for damages of 150 million euros, 5 years in prison for the player and another 8 years in prison for Rosell and Bartomeu. Likewise, the FAAP considers that, in that allegedly fraudulent operation between Barcelona and Santos, their rights , established for social purposes and consisting of a small percentage of the transfer rights, were also violated.