Police flag irregular contracts similar to those of 'Barçagate'
Further irregular dealings have been identified which date back to the presidency of Josep Maria Bartomeu
The Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan police force) have flagged similar contractual irregularities to those of the 'Barçagate' affair, dating back to the presidency of Josep Maria Bartomeu. In these contracts, the amount payable was broken down into several blocks so as to avoid internal club control mechanisms.
According to a report in 'EFE', the Mossos have seized documents that prove how contracts in excess of 200,000 and even 1 million euros were broken down into smaller payments so as to bypass approval from the club's adjudications committee and board of directors, respectively.
The seized documents contain a contract that is similar to that of Nicestream (Carlos Ibáñez's conglomerate which contains the company l3 Ventures) which, despite being worth a total of 2 million euros, was not approved by the adjudications committee. In this case, the contract was broken down into invoices of less than 200,000 euros. The Mossos, however, have not revealed the name of the company in their latest finding.
The Catalan police force also noted that the external audit carried out by PWC (PriceWaterhouseCoopers) to investigate the 'Barçagate' affair wasn't duly approved by the adjudications committee either, despite being worth a total value of 600,000 euros. This isn't the only case of invoices of greater than 200,000 bypassing internal controls.
