The National Police collects economic information from Mlaga at the club's facilities

It takes place within the framework of a judicial investigation against Sheikh Al-Thani, to which the crime of money laundering could be added

National Police agents develop an operation in the offices of Mlaga C.F. in the context of an investigation opened by the Court of Instruction No. 14 against the owner of the club, Sheikh Abdullah Bin Nasser Al Thani, and three of his children, for the alleged crimes of unfair administration, misappropriation and imposition of abusive corporate agreements .

The inquiries, which are being supervised by the agents that developed the Malaya operation, try to shed light on a series of loans and credits worth almost 4.5 million euros that the Malaga club will have granted to the sheikh and his children. Facts that led to a complaint by the Association of Small Shareholders (APA), which has joined the City of Mlaga, which has been admitted to trmite.

The intervention involves agents of the Money Laundering Group, accompanied by the judicial secretary, whose objective is “to collect economic data from the club”, which may involve “taking documentation and dump the contents of the computers”, as El MUNDO has been able to know from sources close to the case.

They explained that, to the crimes of unfair administration, misappropriation and imposition of abusive corporate agreements that are developed in the complaint, money laundering may be added according to the result of the proceedings carried out. The investigators act by “court order”, sources from the Comisara Province have specified.

This action occurs hours after it is known that Al Thani, owner of the team, and three of his children, Nasser – CEO – Nayef Y Rakan -vouchers-, must give a statement in court on February 18. A process that has accelerated after finding that they lack diplomatic immunity.

Recently it was learned that the investigating judge had refused to remove the sheikh from the club's management and appoint a judicial administrator instead during the duration of the investigation. This decision, which was agreed on Monday of last week, had the support of the Treasury, although the aforementioned sources pointed out that the resolution of the holder of the Court of Instruction No. 14 of Mlaga is not firm: “In the future you can to check, if necessary. “

Open causes

Al-Thani currently has two open cases in the courts, although the derivative of the complaint that the APA filed at the end of last October is the most complex for its future and that has led to police intervention in this Wednesday. The document, of ten folios, details how the four defendants – Al-Thani and his three children – have allegedly granted themselves irregular loans worth 4,342,638.62 euros coming from the coffers of the club. A fundamental amount for the survival of the group, which is under a narrow mark of the Professional Soccer League (LFP) and that is going to be forced to sell to its best troops to reach the end of the season.

The holder of the Court of Instruction No. 14 of Mlaga, after admitting the complaint to trial, on December 23 released an official letter to the National Police to, in a first step, investigate “the patrimonial situation of the defendants (… ), with special incidence of companies registered in Spain in which they appear as administrators “.

It is noteworthy that the Laundering Group police who are conducting the investigation are ultimately protected, and through the Unit of Economic and Fiscal Crime (UDEF), by the investigators who carried out the Malaya operation. Agents specialized in tracking money and that have become a headache for organized groups operating on the Costa del Sol. “There is where to investigate, that's for sure,” the sources consulted explained to this newspaper.

The lawyer of the Association of Small Shareholders, Francisco ValverdeHe said that the judicial authority has also requested all documentation related to the other major process that affects the sheikh and that it can cause him to lose 49 percent of the club's shares in favor of the Bluebay hotel group. The court of First Instance number 12 of Mlaga ruled last June against Al Thani and considered proven that he had transferred part of the property in exchange for the aforementioned company to clean up the accounts at a critical moment for the team.