West News Wire: Neymar, along with other defendants in a trial relating to his 2013 transfer from Santos to Barcelona, have had all allegations of corruption and fraud against them dropped in Spain.
In the case initiated by Brazilian investment company DIS, which held 40% of Neymar’s rights when he was at Santos, the prosecution had requested that Neymar serve two years in prison and pay a 10 million euro ($9.95m) punishment.
DIS claims that because the genuine value was undervalued, it was deprived of its proper share of the transfer.
After all defendants in the trial in Barcelona had testified, prosecutor Luis Garcia Canton pleaded with the judge to “acquit all defendants,” saying, “There is not the tiniest suspicion of criminality.”
The prosecution had also sought a five-year jail term for former Barcelona president Sandro Rosell and an 8.4 million-euro ($8.44m) fine for Barcelona.
At the start of the trial, DIS said it was demanding a five-year jail term for Neymar, and a total fine of 149 million euros ($148.2m) fine for the defendants.
DIS argues that it lost out on its rightful cut from the transfer because the true value was understated.
“There is not the slightest hint of crime,” prosecutor Luis Garcia Canton said on Friday after all defendants had testified in the trial in Barcelona, asking the judge for the “acquittal of all defendants”.
The prosecution had also sought a five-year jail term for former Barcelona president Sandro Rosell and an 8.4 million-euro ($8.44m) fine for Barcelona.
At the start of the trial, DIS said it was demanding a five-year jail term for Neymar, and a total fine of 149 million euros ($148.2m) fine for the defendants.