Bari: Aurelio and Luigi De Laurentiis under investigation for false accounting and fraudulent bankruptcy | OneFootball

Aurelio and Luigi De Laurentiis are at the centre of an investigation by the Bari Prosecutor’s Office into alleged false accounting and fraudulent bankruptcy offences related to their management of the Serie C club.

Searches are underway at the Bari and Filmauro headquarters, with Aurelio De Laurentiis and his son Luigi, the sole director of Serie C side Bari, under investigation for alleged false accounting and fraudulent bankruptcy.

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Prosecutors have also requested the opening of judicial liquidation proceedings over Bari’s insolvency. The investigation stemmed from an examination of the club’s financial statements, explanatory notes and management reports.

The review, according to investigators, highlighted Bari’s recurring losses of circa €30m between 2019 and 2025, as well as a substantial capital deficit and debt exposure with no credible restructuring plan in place.

Prosecutors believe that Bari’s poor financial situation was further worsened by a series of suspicious transactions, including the transfer of Elia Caprile.

CAGLIARI, ITALY – JANUARY 17: Elia Caprile of Cagliari looks on during the Serie A match between Cagliari Calcio and Juventus FC at Stadio Sant’Elia on January 17, 2026 in Cagliari, Italy. (Photo by Enrico Locci/Getty Images)

Now at Cagliari, the Italy international joined Bari from Leeds United in 2022, with the Italian club including a sell-on fee for Leeds in the deal.

However, when Caprile joined Napoli one year later, the transfer agreement allegedly didn’t include a bonus for Bari on any future capital gain.

By giving up all rights to any future capital gains, Bari allegedly transferred the player’s entire future economic value to Napoli, thereby deepening their financial distress.

Caprile spent two seasons at Napoli, making just four competitive appearances, before a loan move to Empoli.

The 24-year-old then moved to Cagliari, first on loan in January 2025, then on a permanent transfer for €8m last summer.

Former Bari director Ciro Polito, ex-Napoli sporting director Cristiano Giuntoli (now at Atalanta), Mauro Meluso (Napoli sporting director in 2023-24) and Caprile’s agent Graziano Battistini were also subject to searches in relation to the goalkeeper’s transfers, but are not under investigation.

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The request for Bari’s judicial liquidation proceedings was made following a technical analysis of the club’s financial statements from 2019 to 2025, prompting prosecutors to claim that SSC Bari suffer from a “serious economic and financial imbalance capable of jeopardising business continuity,” as quoted by Gazzetta.

Investigators argue that the club remain operational only because of extraordinary financial support from its sole shareholder, Filmauro, through capital injections, debt waivers and the revaluation of the club’s trademark.

On the pitch, Bari were relegated from Serie B to Serie C in the 2025-26 campaign.