17e5c6FC Barcelona has begun a new legal move as part of the ongoing investigations regarding suspicions of high commissions in the contract deal with Frenchman Antoine Griezmann in 2019, before the Investigative Court No. 16 in the city of Barcelona, in the case brought against former president Josep Maria Bartomeu, which includes accusations of mismanagement, embezzlement of funds and forgery, according to what was reported by the Spanish newspaper “Sport”.
This move is based on a report prepared by current president Joan Laporta, which revealed damages. Financial damage to the club during the previous period, as he indicated a deficit estimated at about 30 million euros in some operations, including deals that included commissions that reached 33%.
The transfer of Griezmann from Atletico Madrid to Barcelona for 120 million euros is one of the most prominent files under investigation, in light of suspicions that lawyer José Ángel Gonzalez Franco, one of the parties included in the case, received a commission estimated at about 1.5 million euros for his role in the case. Mediation.
According to the report, Barcelona’s lawyers submitted an official request to summon Griezmann and his sister, who represented his interests, to testify as witnesses, with the aim of clarifying the circumstances of the distribution of commissions and identifying the parties concerned with them.
The information also indicated the presence of electronic correspondence within the case file, indicating that there was pressure exerted by representatives of the club at the time on the player’s surroundings, in order to accelerate the resolution of the commission file before the completion of the deal.
The documents also include references to related financial agreements. A percentage of commissions linked to the player’s salary and bonuses, in addition to special arrangements for the method of disbursing dues.
Barcelona confirmed in its legal memorandum that the aim of these procedures is to verify whether the club has been exposed to financial damage as a result of these commissions, and whether they were disbursed without legal justification.
Investigations are still continuing into this file, which is part of a series of financial cases related to the previous administration, at a time when the current administration is seeking to reveal all the details related to that stage.