Anti-corruption will take over the investigation of the 'Negreira case' for the "special importance" of the crimes

The State Attorney General agrees to pass the case from the Provincial Prosecutor's Office to the Special

MADRID, 14 Mar. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The State Attorney General, Álvaro García Ortiz, issued a decree on Tuesday ordering the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office to take over what is known as the 'Negreira case', a matter that until now was in the hands of the Barcelona Provincial Prosecutor's Office, considering that these are crimes of special importance, as reported by the Public Ministry.

The decision takes place after last Friday the Provincial Prosecutor's Office filed a complaint before the Investigating Court Number 1 of Barcelona against Fútbol Club Barcelona and its former presidents Sandro Rosell and Josep María Bartomeu for alleged corruption for 7.3 million euros that the club would have paid to the former vice president of the Technical Committee of Referees (CTA) José María Enríquez Negreira between 2001 and 2018. This complaint is also directed against Negreira himself and the former directors of the club Óscar Grau and Albert Soler.

From now on it will be the Special Prosecutor's Office against Corruption and Organized Crime that assumes the accusation in the 'Negreira case', which points to possible crimes of corruption in business in the sports field, unfair administration, misappropriation and falsehood in commercial document.

According to the complaint, to which Europa Press had access, the Public Ministry considers that the payments made to Negreira for more than 7.3 million euros in 2001 and 2008 represent "real remuneration not provided for in the statutes of the club nor approved by the General Assembly" and emphasizes that the perceptions received by Negreira "did not have any legal or statutory support.

Specifically, the complaint states that two Negreira companies issued invoices to Barça "without them responding to any real technical advisory service or provision." The Prosecutor's Office points out that the referee billed the club 2,971,673.01 euros between 2014 and 2018.

The letter adds that the two bank accounts in which Negreira received the payments "were practically entirely fed by the income from the FCB, which were withdrawn, for the most part, by means of bearer checks" collected by third parties at the request of the arbitrator, to whom they then handed over the cash.

Negreira was relieved of the CTA in May 2018 and then Barça stopped paying him, which the referee reproached Bartomeu in a burofax reproduced by the Public Ministry in his complaint. "I do not have the will to publicize all the irregularities that I have known and experienced first-hand in relation to anyone from the club, but you will force me to do so if you do not reconsider your decision and comply with the agreement we had to continue counting on my services until the end of the presidential term," he says.

Within the framework of its letter, the Provincial Prosecutor's Office asks the court to take a statement as investigated from Negreira, Rosell, Bartomeu and the rest of the defendants, as well as the legal representative of FC Barcelona.

Likewise, it requests that a patrimonial investigation be carried out on Negreira and his "closest family environment" to find out the destination given to the money collected. It also requires that Negreira and Barça obtain a copy of the supporting invoices of the commercial operations maintained since 2011 and 2014.

Until now, it is pending that the head of the Investigating Court Number 1 of Barcelona rule on the requests made by the Public Ministry.