Former Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu and three other senior club officials have taken their right not to testify before court on Monday.
The former president was arrested on Monday along with the club’s CEO Oscar Grau, head of legal Roman Gomez Ponti and Jaume Masferrer – said to be Bartomeu’s former right-hand man.
Read more: ‘Barçagate’: the case that led to the arrest of former Barcelona president Bartomeu
Los Mossos han confirmado las 4 detenciones en el marco de la Investigación del BarçaGate. Bartomeu , Masferrer y Gomez Ponti se acogen a su derecho a no declarar. Mañana pasarían a disposición judicial por lo que lo más normal es que pasen la noche en los calabozos de comisaria
— Alfredo Martínez (@Alfremartinezz) March 1, 2021
None of the four testified on Monday and will instead face a judge to do so on Tuesday and will spend the night in police detention in the story dominating Barcelona news.
⚠️ ÚLTIMA HORA, BARTOMEU NO DECLARA
L’expresident blaugrana s’acull al dret de no declarar
Pren la mateixa decisió que Gómez Ponti i Masferrerhttps://t.co/Q4AQIK8vuW pic.twitter.com/uYHZjCEenq
— Tot costa (@totcosta) March 1, 2021
Diario Sport report a statement from the Catalan police force Mossos on Monday evening which confirmed the identity of those arrested and that the investigation was still ongoing.
As highlighted by Guillem Balague, the arrests are on the basis of unfair administration, corruption between individuals and money laundering as the club’s finance, legal and compliance departments are investigated.
The arrests appear to relate to ‘Barçagate’ with the allegations appearing to be tapping into the money being paid from official club accounts to third party company I3 Ventures.
El Mundo reported in September that the payments were six times higher than the market value of the services, which they claimed led the Mossos police force to suspect potential corruption and handling of funds.