The Italian authorities are investigating transfers involving Juventus that were worth €282m in suspicious capital gains over three years, with director Federico Cherubini giving evidence today.
The club’s offices were raided for paperwork on Thursday night, then repeated on Friday afternoon in both Turin and Milan.
According to Sky Sport Italia and news agency ANSA, the investigation covers transfers that were worth circa €282m in captain gains.
Juve risk more than the other clubs under the wider-ranging investigation, because they are floated on the stock exchange and therefore the transfer fees and revenue fall under the purview of the Guardia di Finanza – Italy’s financial police.
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The reason given for the investigation by the Turin authorities referred to former Chief Football Officer Fabio Paratici – who is now at Juventus – being the ‘architect’ of the preventative plan to balance the books with inflated transfer fees.
It also stated that President Andrea Agnelli was well aware of Paratici’s behaviour.
Meanwhile, today current director general Cherubini was called in to give evidence in an interview with the Turin financial authorities.
The transfer fees are inflated to help both clubs in the deal to balance their books, making it seem as if there is more revenue and more expenses than in reality were involved.
It is extremely difficult to ascertain exactly how much a player is worth, as that is dictated by the market and the two clubs, especially when player exchanges are performed.
COVISOC (the Italian financial checks and balances authority) sources told news agency ANSA that it is ‘not just Juventus’ involved in the investigation, but ‘dozens’ of transfers going back to the autumn of 2020.
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Some of the evidence could be telephone wiretaps, which are remarkably common and easy to get under the Italian justice system.