MARADONA MONEY MYSTERY
DIEGO Maradona’s fortune has been plundered and his children left to fight over less than £5million, lawyers have claimed.
The football icon told pals before he died he had around £75m.
But the figures that have been bandied around since his shock demise could be around 15 times more than the cash and property assets that end up being included in his inheritance, it emerged on Monday.
The lawyer acting for Maradona’s youngest son Diego Fernando, eight on Saturday, admitted ‘hangers-on’ could have pilfered the former footballer’s fortune as he laid bare the former footballer’s problem financial situation.
Mario Baudry, said: “There’s been talk of £75m but only just over £4m has appeared in bank accounts along with a small apartment, an old house Diego owned and two cars.
“Diego earned a lot of money but the problem is he didn’t have it.
“The expense reports haven’t appeared so we don’t know if he spent it or if others spent it or whether it’s somewhere we don’t know yet.”
Claiming a fingerprint home safe Maradona kept at the house he lived in before his hospital brain op had been tampered with, he added: “Diego thought only he could open it but anyone who touched it could.
“We’re just about to open a security deposit box at a bank that was in Diego’s name but when we go we’ll probably discover Maradona never went there.
“As Diego gave people power of attorney, they opened accounts and worked in his name.
“In Dubai he had designer watches that came with a card and a serial number.
“We’ve got 14 cards but no watches. Someone took them.”
PAPERWORK PROBLEM
Baudry, now dating Diego Fernando’s mum and Maradona ex Veronica Ojeda, made his astonishing claims in Argentine TV interviews.
He insisted he was not pointing the finger at anyone in particular and insisted: “If he earned the millions he did, where has it gone?
“If Diego spent it, and hopefully that’s the case, there’s no problem.
“His heirs will rest easy if they’re shown that happened. But at the moment there is no paperwork to prove it.”
Claiming his relationship with Maradona was a cordial one despite his relationship with Ojeda, he added: “Diego told me in a Whats-App audio before he died how much money he had but it was a private message and I can’t prove what he said.
“Diego’s lawyer Matias Morla has said his children were going to inherit fortunes, that there were hotels, a pasta factory and other businesses in Cuba and Venezuela but we’ve seen nothing so far to back that up.”
EX’S WAR OF WORDS
Diego lived in Dubai with another ex Rocio Oliva, who was banned from a family wake and Maradona’s funeral following his death in November from heart failure.
Last month the pretty blonde was accused of using the footie star’s credit cards after he died during an ugly war of words with Ojeda.
Oliva, whose turbulent seven-year relationship with Maradona hit rock-bottom when he alleged she had stolen hundreds of pounds of valuables from his Dubai mansion, rubbished the claims.
She was detained on an international arrest warrant after flying back to Argentina from the World Cup in Brazil in 2014 - but he subsequently withdrew his complaint after they patched things up.
Forged Diego Maradona signatures were found during a recent search of his doctor Leopoldo Luque’s home by prosecutors investigating whether the star’s death is linked to medical negligence.
The former Barcelona and Naples player had five children he recognised as his by four different women.
Three other Argentines including teenager Santiago Lara who demanded the exhumation of Maradona’s body days after he died, say he was their dad and have launched paternity suits.
A lifelong friend of Maradona’s, Mariano Israelit, claimed recently: “When Diego returned from Mexico in 2019 he told me he had more than $100m (£71m).
“I’d love it if his children were the ones who inherited it but I don’t know where that money is now.” - Sun.