Spanish court reopens Neymar fraud case

MADRID: Barcelona superstar Neymar’s troubles with the Spanish authorities continued when a fraud case against the player and his father was reopened following a successful appeal by Spanish prosecutors, a court filing showed.

In July a judge ruled that irregularities in the Brazilian’s 2013 transfer to Barcelona were detected, but said it was an issue for a civil court, not a criminal court to settle.

However, prosecutors successfully argued the player and his father were aware of potentially fraudulent dealings between Barcelona and his former club Santos to the detriment of DIS, a Brazilian investment company who owned 40% of the player’s sporting rights at the time of the transfer.

Spain’s National Court “fully overturned” Judge Jose de la Mata’s decision two months ago, allowing the case to proceed.

The decision is another blow to the image of the Spanish champions and Neymar, who had hoped to bring an end to the murky affair when the

€ club agreed to pay a 5.5mil (RM25.6mil) fine in a deal with prosecutors in June to settle a separate case and ensure the club avoided trial on tax-evasion charges over the transfer.

“FC Barcelona express their disagreement with the reasoning included in this decision,” the club said in a statement.

“The investigating judge, who initially had agreed to dismiss the case against all those investigated, must now reopen the case and end up holding a trial.

“In the trial, FC Barcelona will maintain the version of events they have always defended throughout the process and prove the innocence of all those investigated.”

Neymar, 24, his father (also Neymar), Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu and his predecessor Sandro Rosell were all called to testify in the case in February. Barcelona originally published the

€ fee in the transfer as 57.1mil

€ (RM264.5mil), with 40mil (RM185mil) of that given to the player’s family.

But Spanish authorities believe the true transfer figure was at least €

83mil (RM384.5mil) because of a series of extra agreements tied to the transfer between the two clubs.

€ Santos received just 17.1mil

€ (RM79.2mil), 6.8mil (RM31.5mil) of which went to DIS.

DIS has claimed it was cheated of its real share firstly because part of the transfer fee was concealed by Barcelona and Santos.

Moreover, DIS also believes a pre-contract agreement between Neymar and Barcelona impeded other clubs from making offers for the player, affecting the value of the transfer fee.

Neymar is far from the only Barca star to find himself embroiled in problems with the Spanish authorities.

Five-time World Player of the Year Lionel Messi and his father were given 21-month jail sentences in July for tax fraud relating to the player’s image rights.

Messi is appealing the verdict, but the prison sentences are likely to be suspended as is common in Spain for first offences for non-violent crimes carrying a sentence of less than two years.