The Portuguese authorities carried out today searches at the Benfica and Santa Clara facilities for suspicions of alleged sports corruption, fraud and money laundering, while at Sporting de Portugal, searches were also carried out in the field of another police operation, against the alleged money laundering.
Benfica and Santa Clara they confirmed the records in separate communications, in which they were available to collaborate with the authorities.
The Portuguese Prosecutor's Office also confirmed this operation in a statement, without revealing the names of the clubs, and detailed that a total of 29 records were made in homes, foundations, sports societies, clubs, law firms and other types of companies.
The operation investigates “facts likely to be crimes of economic participation in business or improper reception of advantage, active and passive corruption in sports, qualified tax fraud and money laundering “.
Soccer-related businesses are investigated, mainly “financial-sports cooperation contracts“and alterations to those contracts.
Also the “acquisition of sports and economic rights of players” and “loans granted to one of these clubs and to a sports society by a Singaporean citizen with interests in companies based in the British Virgin Islands, and the use of the accounts of the same club and of another for the circulation of money “.
“Investigations fall equally on the involvement of other types of companies (some in the real estate sector), the cash payment of two bonuses, the satisfaction of personal debts of leaders, the use by them of money from the clubs and the declarative omission of financially relevant operations, “says the Prosecutor's Office.
For its part, Sporting de Portugal confirmed that the Judicial Police were conducting searches at their facilities in the context of another operation, in this case due to suspicions of money laundering.
In a statement, the club stated that the alleged crime would have been committed between 2011 and 2014 and he was available to collaborate with the authorities.