Barcelona president Bartomeu, predecessor Rosell and the club to face trial for tax crimes
Barcelona, March 14 (IANS) FC Barcelona president Josep Bartomeu, his predecessor Sandro Rosell and the football club themselves will have to stand trial on being accused of tax fraud.
Judge Pablo Ruz believes there is enough evidence to proceed with charges of fraud and maladministration related to irregularities linked to the signing of Brazilian striker Neymar in the summer of 2013, reports Xinhua.
Neymar was signed when Rosell was president and Bartomeu vice-president for a cost which Rosell insisted was 57.1 million euros. However, the complicated nature of the contracts involved in the signing mean the real value was closer to 100 million euros, meaning that tax authorities have been defrauded by around 13 million euros.
Rosell resigned in January 2014 as a result of the accusations and during a court appearance in February this year Bartomeu insisted he had nothing to do with the negotiations of the Neymar deal and that neither he nor the club had intentionally committed fraud.