Gonzalo Montiel's former lawyer arrested over alleged $700,000 scam | OneFootball

While Gonzalo Montiel is about to talk with Marcelo Gallardo to decide his future, he received a pleasant surprise for his close circle and family: the authorities have arrested Nicolás Agustín Payarola Hernayes, his former lawyer, who defrauded him in 2023 for an amount close to U$S700,000.

The arrest occurred after a raid on the lawyer's residence in Nordelta, as part of the investigation into fraud. The procedures were authorized by prosecutor Cosme Iribarren from the UFI of Benavídez and were carried out this Thursday morning.

The investigation began following complaints from the victims: María Ximena Braña, Juan Marcelo Montiel (a relative of the footballer), Macarena Posee, Silvana de Leonardis, Débora Grecco, and Norma Graciela Vignoni.

The incident with the world champion full-back started in 2023, when 'Cachete' was a player for Nottingham Forest. According to the complaint, Payarola introduced the Montiel family to a person who took the family's money that was intended for a real estate project in Ezeiza.

The fraud was discovered by Brahim López, Montiel's sister's partner. In August of this year, the lawyer was prosecuted for breach of trust to the detriment of the River Plate footballer's assets for the mentioned amount.

"Payarola offered himself as an intermediary and finally assumed the mandate granted by the Montiel family to carry out the commercial operations, abusing the victims' trust from that point on and diverting the entrusted money for his own benefit," the case explains.

His arrest brought relief to his family, and for this reason, his sister used her Instagram account to express her feelings upon learning that the man who defrauded them is now deprived of his freedom.

The progress of the case against Nicolás Payarola

He was the representative of Wanda Nara and world champion Gonzalo Montiel, among other figures. During the raid, documents, digital storage devices, and cell phones were seized.

The lawyer is charged with the crimes of fraud in ideal concurrence with embezzlement by undue retention, fraud by abuse of a blank signature, and repeated fraudulent administration.

Last month, Chamber I of the San Isidro Court of Appeals and Guarantees in Criminal Matters had ordered lawyer Payarola Hernayes to deposit a bond of 300 million pesos to continue the process in freedom, but that measure has now been revoked by the judge of guarantees.

Additionally, at the beginning of last June, Payarola Hernayes faced another legal setback. The National Chamber of Appeals in Criminal and Correctional Matters confirmed the first-instance prosecution in the case where Montiel had accused him of fraud.

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