In relation to the purchase of economic rights of football players and the financing of transfers and clubs

• The investigation, initiated by the Special Prosecutor's Office against Corruption and Organized Crime, is directed by the Central Court of Instruction no. 5 of the National Court
• A hundred agents from the Central Operational Unit of the Civil Guard (UCO) and officials from the National Fraud Investigation Office (ONIF) of the AEAT are participating.
• The investigation focuses on the operations carried out in Spain by an investment fund based in Malta, which invested in the purchase of economic rights of soccer players.

July 17, 2019 .- Officials of the National Fraud Investigation Office (ONIF) of the Tax Agency and agents of the Central Operational Unit (UCO) of the Civil Guard, in the within the framework of operation 'Dean', they are carrying out different actions in the provinces of Madrid, Alicante, Valencia, Asturias, Seville, Cádiz, Granada, Murcia and the Balearic Islands, in order to obtain evidence of alleged tax crimes and money laundering.

These actions are under the direction and coordination of the Central Court of Instruction number 5 of the National Court, who has ordered the carrying out of several searches in homes, as well as documentation requirements for multiple companies.

The investigation began at the beginning of last year focusing on the operations carried out in Spain by an investment fund established in 2011 with headquarters in Malta.

The activities of this fund consisted of the purchase of economic rights of promising soccer players, seeking to achieve capital gains with their transfers to third teams. Likewise, it financed transfers and provided liquidity to Spanish football clubs with financial difficulties, all under the advice of law firms.

The agreements with the Spanish football clubs appear to have been negotiated in Spain by two representatives of football players, who could have simulated their tax residence outside of Spain, so as not to declare the profits obtained to the Public Treasury.

More than 5 million euros

To commit the detected frauds, a complex corporate structure has been used that would have made it possible to hide the benefits of the loans and the sale of the economic rights of the soccer players, with the amount supposedly defrauded from the Spanish Public Treasury amounting to more than 5 million euros.

At the moment, there are five people investigated and several dozen will give witness statements. Furthermore, due to the international impact, collaboration has been requested from several countries.