The Prosecutor’s Office and the Treasury of Portugal have ordered this Wednesday the searches of the social headquarters of Benfica, Porto and Sporting de Portugal, as well as the houses of players such as the former Valencian player Gonçalo Guedes, within the framework of an investigation into the alleged crimes of tax fraud, Social Security fraud and money laundering in the transfers of soccer players.
In the case of the winger who played for Valencia between the summers of 2018 and 2022, the Portuguese tax authority is investigating both his transfer to PSG in 2016 and the one that brought him to Valencia two years later for 40 million euros plus seven in variables.
The Public Ministry has confirmed that more than 60 searches have been carried out in the areas of Lisbon, Porto, Braga, Viana do Castelo, Aveiro and Setúbal. Documentation has been required not only in the three main football clubs in Portugal, but also in law firms and economists, as well as in the homes of the players.
In addition to the clubs involved in the operations, the “payment of commissions and financial circuits in which the intermediaries participated” of the footballers when they signed or renewed their sports employment contracts, as well as the use of image rights, are also being investigated.
According to the Prosecutor’s Office, the irregularities would have occurred between 2014 and 2022, have a “strong international dimension” and it is estimated that they would have generated “illegitimate patrimonial, tax and social security benefits” in excess of 58 million euros.
Both Benfica and Porto have confirmed the records of their facilities in their respective statements in which they express their willingness to collaborate with the authorities.
These records are within the framework of the so-called “Offside” operation that began in 2020, which has already focused on other transfers such as Bruno Fernandes from Sporting to Manchester United in 2019.
This operation coincides in time with the investigative proceedings opened by the Economic Crimes section of the Valencia Prosecutor’s Office against Peter Lim, the agent Jorge Mendes and the presidents Amadeo Salvo and Layhoon Chan upon seeing indications of the alleged commission of accounting falsity, crimes of corruption between individuals and others against the public Treasury.
This investigation is based on the complaint of the former vice president of the club, Miguel Zorío, who focuses on the purchases and sales of players made by Peter Lim. In his writing, Zorío recalls that the signings of the Portuguese who belonged to Benfica, Cancelo, André Gómez, Enzo Pérez and Rodrigo, which cost Valenci 95 million euros. “Almost 35 million euros went to the hands of the participating agents (transfer expenses are referred to by Benfica in the documentation that it presents to the Lisbon Stock Exchange”. Benfica thus saved its financial bankruptcy and received financial assistance from Peter Lim and Jorge Mendes at the expense of Valencia CF”, exposes the prosecutor.
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