Benfica row: Alleged corruption in shady deals with Mendes’ ally | OneFootball

The Public Prosecutor's Office has launched an investigation into several deals between Peter Lim, owner of Valencia, and former club officials with Benfica, after Miguel Zorío, former vice-president of the Valencian club, reported the case for alleged international corruption and accounting fraud in the deals involving Rodrigo and André Gomes.

According to what the former official of the team that plays at Mestalla revealed to the neighboring country's publication, Levante-EMV, the said ministry allowed the meeting with the authorities, held on July 11 at the headquarters of the Attorney General's Office, to be disclosed in writing.

Based on the financial reports submitted by Benfica to the CMVM, the former vice-president of Valencia specified the information previously sent to two inspectors specialized in economic crimes and to two prosecutors from DCIAP – Central Department of Investigation and Penal Action.

According to Zorío's statements, the files "show that much of the money paid by Valencia to Benfica never reached the coffers" of the Eagles, raising suspicions of operations carried out between Peter Lim, Jorge Mendes, and Meriton Holdings, the Singaporean businessman's firm. The investigation was opened last February, after Zorío presented additional documents regarding the financial transactions between the Eagles and the Valencians, and was strengthened by the invocation of the Court of Arbitration for Sport's ruling by the same party.

According to Zorío, Valencia took out a loan of 100 million euros from Meriton so that the transfers of players such as Enzo Pérez or João Cancelo – in addition to those already mentioned – could be completed. "If we add to all this that Valencia paid 85 million euros for the four players – plus 10 million in variables for Rodrigo – that Benfica kept a significant percentage of their subsequent sales, and that, out of those 85 + 10 million euros, only 52 million reached Lisbon, we see that the operation served to inject money into Benfica's delicate coffers and into Meriton's important accounts, robbing Valencia," he explained.

Recently, Rui Costa was named as a defendant in a deal made with a Russian club. The issue involves 70 thousand euros related to the sale of Germán Conti. The money came from Lokomotiv Moscow, something that European rules do not allow (Find out more HERE).

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This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.