The investigation uncovered by SER Catalunya began with a complaint from the Tax Agency that detected irregularities in the taxation of the company DASNIL 95. The company was dedicated to analyzing the behavior of the referees on the field of play and delivered a report to the FC Barcelona sports area.
Between 2016 and 2018, the payments amounted to 1.4 million euros, but the links with this company began at least since 2003. The Treasury requested more specificity about the work provided and summoned the person in charge of the company, José María Enríquez Negreira, to testify. vice president of the Technical Committee of Referees. He assured that there was no "supporting documentation" of the invoices since the advice was verbal. Faced with this strange response, the prosecutor referred the case to the Barcelona Prosecutor's Office.
In an indicative way for a tax offense for not having correctly taxed the payments he received from Barça and for another for an alleged crime of corruption between individuals. This crime punishes the payment of illegal commissions with penalties of six months to four years in prison for directors of sports entities in addition to economic sanctions.
In the event that it is shown that the payments served to influence arbitration decisions, this behavior would fit into a specific section of this crime: corruption between individuals in professional sports, a criminal offense designed to end match-fixing.
The three possibilities on the table are three. That the payments were clean for advisory services that were provided and whose reports existed. The second option that the Prosecutor's Office is looking to clarify is whether FC Barcelona paid commissions to the vice president of the Referees Committee to ensure favorable treatment in matches. This possibility would place Barça as an active subject in the commission of corruption between individuals and Negreira as a passive subject.
And the third possibility is that the initiative came from Negreira and that he had blackmailed Barça demanding money in exchange for receiving good arbitration. This would turn the tables. Negreira would be the active subject and Barça the passive. In any case, both would have criminal responsibility
In the event that the commission of a private crime was declared accredited, FC Barcelona could acquire the status of being investigated and ultimately convicted, as already happened with the case of the signing of Neymar. The crime of corruption between individuals contemplates the imputation of the legal person, for which the club could end up facing responsibility because it was Barça as an institution that made the payments.
