The infamous ‘Negreira case’ continues to rumble on in the background of Spanish football, with Barcelona accused of Sporting Corruption, and investigations ongoing into former Vice-President of the Referees Technical Committee Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira. His wife Ana Paula Rufas Lopez has now been accused of money laundering by Court Magistrate Joaquin Aguirre.
Rufas became part of the investigation into Negreira, as police searched for the destination of the €7-8m that his companies were paid by Barcelona over a period of 20 years for alleged consultancy fees. The police have discovered that over that same period, nearly €3m passed through the accounts of Rufas, and she will be called to testify in the case. Negreira decided not to comment on the questions he was asked by the investigators
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As detailed by Diario AS, between 2011 and 2018, Rufas received €151k as a salary from Dasnil and then Nilsad, the consulting companies, but a further €2.826m are believed to be ‘unjustified income’, the origin of which the court are trying to establish.
Thus far, police have been unable to locate the reports for which Barcelona paid Dasnil and Nilsad, concluding that they do not exist as part of their investigation. They remain accused of sporting corruption, but a bribery charge has been dropped, as Negreira was not deemed a public official in his role at the RFEF.
