Former Barcelona President Josep Maria Bartomeu is suspected of using club funds for his own personal means, according to a police report.
The Mossos police force in Catalonia have put together a report which is hundreds of pages long examining the finances and communications of Barcelona and some of their business relations during Bartomeu’s tenure.
Cadena SER revealed the details of this report which says that a contract with Amalgama Marketing was used to filter money through to third parties. The payments would vary, but doubled in 2020 when the pandemic hit and Barcelona asked players to take wage cuts.
🚨 BREAKING: Police has concluded that Bartomeu was diverting Barcelona's money for personal purposes. Police say he used Barça's contract with Amalgama Marketing for payments not related to the club (journalists or businessmen). @QueThiJugues pic.twitter.com/3mhBm9mqUY
— barcacentre (@barcacentre) July 19, 2023
Bartomeu also obscured these payments from Price Waterhouse Cooper, an external consultant brought in to conduct an independent audit of their accounts.
Much of the money paid to Amalgama was for specific campaigns, but around 26% of the payments, numbering in its hundreds of thousands over the years, went to third parties.
43% of those payments went to Josep Juanmarti, who worked with Bartomeu’s son at the family business, Adelte. 26% of those payments went to journalist Marcal Llorente, while remainder of that money was divided between two more journalists in Albert Lessant and Alberto de la Torre, and head of Amalgama, Miquel Sambola. In total the payments reached €152k.
The payments to the journalists were in exchange for positive press for Bartomeu and to an extent Barcelona. In emails with Bartomeu, Llorente claimed he was told that he would be absorbed into the club in a role after helping Bartomeu to win the elections in 2015.
That did not happen, but he referred to the payments made to him, as a ‘salary’, and recognise that ‘it will be difficult for me to return to my position as an objective journalist afterwards, given the parciality I have shown’. Llorente also told Bartomeu that he thought a salary for his role at the club of €80k would be fair.
Bartomeu is yet to be charged with corruption as the Barcagate investigation continues, but was previously arrested and let out on bail. Bartomeu is also under suspicion of wrongdoing in the Negreira case, as one of the Presidents involved over the 17-year period being investigated.
