Laporta complaint ‘to be investigated’ in Barcelona courts, prosecutor’s report suggests | OneFootball

The National Court prosecutor Vicente González Mota has sent Judge Santiago Pedraz a report backing Barcelona jurisdiction for the complaint against former Barça president and current candidate Laporta and members of the outgoing board. According to El Periódico de Catalunya, he says it should be investigated by a Barcelona court, not the National Court.

He argues the National Court lacks competence because the alleged offences were not all committed abroad, as Supreme Court case law requires. While money laundering and falsification may have occurred outside Spain, alleged mismanagement, criminal organisation and tax fraud are tied to Barcelona, where the club is based.

Judge Pedraz is due to decide on Monday whether to accept that stance. The complainant, a former Barcelona member, filed at the National Court believing it can investigate crimes abroad by Spaniards and says the payment circuit and return of funds were based in foreign, often opaque, jurisdictions.

The complaint highlights five operations, the sale of Barça Vision, also called Bridgeburg Invest, the no-tender award of Camp Nou telecoms to New Era Visionary Group, the purchase of luxury seats from that firm, the award of the new stadium build, and an alleged intermediary fee in the Nike sponsorship renewal. It also alleges tax fraud and criminal organisation, claims denied by Laporta and Barcelona.

It outlines a network of companies in Spain, Cyprus, Dubai, Croatia and Estonia used to channel improper commissions and reintroduce funds through seemingly legitimate businesses. The filing says concealment involved shell firms and hidden investor identities, causing potential harm to the club. It adds the operations suggest money laundering, introducing opaque funds, possibly from prior offences such as private bribery or mismanagement, into the legal economy through intermediaries, conduct punishable under the Penal Code.

Source: Superdeporte