Spanish Prosecutors Want Neymar Tried for Fraud Over Barca Transfer

Spanish Prosecutors Want Neymar Tried for Fraud Over Barca Transfer

Spanish prosecutors have accused Neymar, his father, Barca’s ex-president Sandro Rosell and the club itself of concealing the cost of the multi-million-euro transfer from the Brazilian investment fund that owned 40 percent of his rights.

The allegations against the Brazilian date back to an image rights scam during his early days at Santos, and the issue of fraud during his mega transfer to Barcelona in 2013, Yahoo Sports writes.

However, the 24-year-old forward defended himself in a post on his personal website on Monday and said the prosecution was “seeking the limelight”, before going ahead to invite Prosecutor Thiago Lacerda to visit the offices of NR Sports to see for himself.

Spain’s criminal court has accused Neymar’s father of designing schemes with his Spanish colleagues as they negotiated his son’s transfer.

“Between 2006 and 2013, the player’s father was the principal mentor and mastermind of a series of contractual frauds involving Neymar’s image rights, mainly through Neymar Sport e Marketing,” the statement said.

They further allege that Neymar signed several contracts with Santos and Barcelona to do publicity work but the money was paid into his father’s accounts in order to reduce their tax burden.

Rosell resigned as Barcelona chairman to defend himself against accusations that he and the club swindled Spanish tax authorities out of 13 million Euros.