Joan Laporta and some of his directors are accused of money laundering.

BarcelonaJoan Laporta Estruch and some of the directors who served with him during his last presidential term at FC Barcelona (2021-2026) have been accused of money laundering, alleged illicit receipt of commissions, tax fraud, and membership in a criminal organization. These are some of the alleged criminal offenses they will have to defend themselves against if the National Court accepts a complaint filed electronically late Friday night in Madrid by a Barça member, whose identity has not yet been revealed. The case has been assigned to Judge Santiago Pedraz. The information was first reported by... The NewspaperThis shakes up the news three weeks before the elections in which Laporta and his group are the clear favorites against other pre-candidates. The elections will be held on March 15 and are already conditioned by a legal proceeding that could result in prison sentences.

Besides Laporta, the complainant is asking that the current president of Barça, Rafa Yuste, the former institutional vice-president Elena Fort, the former economic vice-president Eduard Romeu, the former treasurer Ferran Olivé, the secretary Josep Cubells, and the General Manager Manel del Río, The head of compliance, Sergi Atienza; the head of legal services, Pere Lluís Mellado; the head of purchasing, César Martínez; the presidential advisor, Enric Masip; and the chief of staff, Manana Giorgadze, are all named in the complaint. The complaint also includes Xavier Laporta, brother of the candidate for reelection and owner of the company Capital Planet SL, which appears in the documentation submitted to the court and is registered at the same address on Barcelona's Diagonal Avenue where Laporta has his professional office. Among the evidence presented in the lawsuit are payments from Barça suppliers such as Nike and Limak to suspicious accounts located outside the European Union. The money—millions of euros—was then laundered back into Spain through supposedly legitimate businesses.

Five suspicious operations

The commission of alleged crimes outside of Spanish jurisdiction is the reason the complainant went to the National Court, believing it to be the competent body to try these cases. According to the statement The Newspaper Regarding the same complaint, "the structure of the payment circuit for the illicit commissions and the reintroduction of the funds into Spain is based in foreign countries with opaque and non-cooperative tax systems." These countries are the United Arab Emirates (Dubai), Estonia, Croatia, and Cyprus. The alleged scheme involves five key operations: the sale of the club's digital assets (Barça Vision) "under conditions detrimental to the entity," the awarding of the Camp Nou telecommunications contract to New Era Visionary Group without a bidding process, and the purchase of seats VIP by the company itself, the awarding of the Camp Nou works to Limak and the payment of the commission linked to the renewal of the sponsorship agreement with Nike.

This morning Laporta assured Catalonia Radio Morning Show The complaint filed "will be duly answered." "They've been trying to undermine and tarnish the electoral process for some time now," stated the candidate for reelection. Laporta insisted that the information is false: "They've stirred things up and concocted a story." The club also denied all the information in a statement, despite claiming not to have seen the documents on which it is based. Barça lamented that the publication of the complaint occurred "in the midst of an electoral context" and believes that this action could be "an illegitimate attempt to disrupt the normal course of the democratic process."

Minutes after Laporta, Víctor Font appeared on the same program, asserting that Laporta has long "lied to the members" and that the former president lives "in a parallel reality." The Nosotros pre-candidate denounced the club's "lack of transparency," claiming it "hides behind confidentiality agreements," and admitted that the accusation surprised him, although he stated that "this kind of rumor had been circulating around Barça for some time." "It's a clear example of the suspicions that many members have long held and for which we denounce the lack of control mechanisms at the club," he added. For his part, pre-candidate Xavier Vilajoana described the news as a "turning point if the courts determine that these events occurred." "The club cannot afford to have Laporta for even a minute longer," he added. Fellow candidate Marc Ciria has been less harsh, simply distancing himself from the complaint against Laporta and expressing regret over it: "I'm very tired of Barça's constant in-and-out legal battles. I just hope the club is clean and has nothing to do with all this. As a member, I'm fed up with the legalization of the club."