The Barcelona Public Prosecutor’s Office has filed a complaint over Barça’s million-dollar payments to former referee José María Enríquez Negreira, among others, against FC Barcelona as a legal entity, accordingto information published in El País. according to the same source, the offence is contemplated in its continuous form, which implies a greater severity of penalties. After almost a year of investigation, the complaint also singles out the former president of the club Josep Maria Bartomeu, members of his management team responsible for the payments and Negreira.
According to the same media, the investigation by the Public Prosecutor’s Office began in May 2022 for alleged tax irregularities committed by Negreira’s company. In his statement to the tax office, the former referee said that the club paid him because they wanted “neutral” refereeing and to “make sure that no decisions were made against them” during matches. When he was called to testify as an investigator before the Public Prosecutor’s Office, however, he invoked his right not to testify on the grounds that he suffers from Alzheimer’s disease.
On the other hand, Real Madrid has announced that its Board of Directors has inspected the serious accusations brought by the Barcelona Prosecution Service against F. C. Barcelona, two of its former presidents, Josep María Bartomeu and Sandro Rosell, and executives Albert Soler and Óscar Grau, on the basis of alleged offenses of corruption in sports, among others, all related to the relationship the club maintained with the former Vice-President of the Technical Referees’ Committee (CTA), José María Enríquez Negreira.
Real Madrid said in a statement that “wishes to express its utmost concern regarding the gravity of the facts and reiterates its confidence in the legal system. The club has agreed that, in defence of its legitimate rights, it will appear at the trial when the judge opens it up to the affected parties.”
Fuster-Fabra will represent Bartomeu in the “Negreira ” case, as well as in the actions derived from Barçagate, for possible libel against Jaume Roures, with partner José María Fuster-Fabra and of counsel Gonzalo Quintero Olivares
