The Guardia di Finanza has seized some assets for 2,6 million euros from Massimo Ferrero, president of Sampdoria. The provision was also triggered against the Sampdoria club, for an amount of around 200 thousand euros.
Ferrero is involved in an investigation by the Special Currency Police Unit which involves a total of six people. The hypothesized crimes, for various reasons, are embezzlement, fraud, issuing and use of false invoices, self-laundering and use of money, goods or utilities of illicit origin.
The investigations started from the analysis of a series of anomalous financial transactions by the companies of the Ferrero group. According to the hypothesis of the investigators, 1,2 million would have disappeared from Sampdoria's coffers, part of the money collected for the sale to West Ham of Pedro Obiang in the summer of 2015.
The money was allegedly diverted through the use of false invoices issued by a company attributable to Ferrero, even if administered by another entity, and subsequently reused both to settle debts of other group companies and to finance a film produced by two other companies , always referable to the president of Sampdoria.
The investigations by the Gdf also revealed a series of fake labor disputes before the Territorial Labor Directorate of Rome through which 5 settlement agreements were concluded for 100 thousand euros each, simulating the existence of employment relationships with 5 companies of the group. Money that, in large part, always supports the Guardia di Finanza, was then used to purchase a prestigious property in Florence.
At the same time, the Prosecutor's Office of the Football Federation has also opened a file on Ferrero, initiating contacts with the Rome Prosecutor's Office to acquire the documents of the investigation.
