Portuguese authorities search Porto premises over commission paid on transfers

• President Jorge Nuno Pinto da Costa being investigated

• Éder Militão move to Real Madrid among deals in spotlight

Portuguese authorities investigating the payment of commissions exceeding €20m related to football transfers searched the headquarters of FC Porto and its president Jorge Nuno Pinto da Costa on Monday as part of “Operation Red Card”.

More than 30 different searches by officers from the public prosecutor’s office were carried out at a number of addresses in Porto and Lisbon, which included the club’s offices, a banking institution and several residences. It is understood that the €9m (£7.7m) that was paid to two agents as part of the €50m transfer that saw the Brazil defender Éder Militão move from Porto to Real Madrid in 2019 is one of the deals under investigation by the Departamento Central de Investigação e Ação Penal (DCIAP).

In a statement, the DCIAP said the investigation is concentrating on transfers to “have occurred at least since 2017 to the present, with a strong international dimension involving commission payments of more than €20m” and includes “the suspected practice of crimes of tax fraud, swindling, abuse of trust and laundering, related to football players transfers and financial circuits involving intermediaries in these businesses.”

Porto said in a statement that they collaborated fully with the investigation “on suspicion of judicial authorities of crimes of abuse of trust, tax fraud and money laundering that had their genesis in financial movements related to transfers of football players”.

In July, Benfica’s president, Luis Filipe Vieira, along with his son and well-known agent Bruno Macedo were arrested as part of the ‘Cartão Vermelho’ investigation. Vieira later resigned after being placed under house arrest having denied the charges of orchestrating a tax fraud and money-laundering scheme since 2014.

Macedo is also believed to be under investigation for commissions paid by Porto to him and his partner – Giuliano Bertolucci – on the Militão transaction when the Brazil defender joined Madrid in June 2019. Militão was sold for a fee of €50m and Porto state in their annual report that they earned €28.4m from his departure. According to the accounts, the remaining €21.6m was received by three parties, two of which were named as Macedo and Bertolucci.

A fee of €3.5m was paid to Macedo’s company – BM Consulting – while Bertolucci, the agent for the former Arsenal defender David Luiz, is referred to as having received a fee, but there is nothing within the document indicating how much.

Contributor

Ed Aarons

The GuardianTramp

Related Content

Article image
Champions League last 16: tie-by-tie analysis | Michael Cox
Real Madrid ought to have too much for Napoli, but there are tough challenges ahead for Arsenal, Leicester and Paris Saint-Germain

Michael Cox

12, Dec, 2016 @6:16 PM

Article image
Agent Jorge Mendes' homes searched in money laundering investigation
The Portuguese attorney’s office has confirmed that they conducted dozens of searches on Wednesday in connection with their investigation into tax evasion and money laundering at some of the country’s biggest clubs, as well as super-agent Jorge Mendes

Ed Aarons

04, Mar, 2020 @6:38 PM

Article image
Champions League last-16 draw: tie-by-tie analysis
Liverpool can cause problems for Madrid’s midfield, Leipzig’s forwards can test Manchester City and Spurs should have too much for Milan

Jonathan Wilson

07, Nov, 2022 @1:47 PM

Article image
Galeno stunner gives Porto narrow advantage over lacklustre Arsenal
Galeno’s superb strike deep into stoppage time gave Porto a 1-0 first-leg lead in their Champions League last-16 tie against Arsenal

David Hytner at the Estádio do Dragão

21, Feb, 2024 @10:12 PM

Article image
Mason Mount’s star turn and Chilwell give Chelsea advantage over Porto
Ben Chilwell capitalised on a late error to give Chelsea real hope of reaching the semi-finals as his strike made it 2-0 against Porto

Sid Lowe at the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán Stadium

07, Apr, 2021 @9:10 PM

Article image
Liverpool cruise to victory over Porto after Naby Keïta’s flying start
Keïta’s early goal and Roberto Firmino’s second gave Liverpool a 2-0 home victory against Porto in their Champions League quarter-final first leg

Andy Hunter at Anfield

09, Apr, 2019 @9:01 PM

Article image
Ilkay Gündogan sets up Manchester City win over Porto but injuries mount up
Manchester City recovered from a shaky start to come from behind and beat Porto 3-1 in their opening Group C match in the Champions League

Jamie Jackson at the Etihad Stadium

21, Oct, 2020 @8:58 PM

Article image
Alfredo Morelos breaks deadlock for Rangers to overcome Porto
Late goals from Alfredo Morelos and Steven Davis gave Rangers a 2-0 home win over Porto to keep them in contention for the Europa League knockout stage

Ewan Murray at Ibrox

07, Nov, 2019 @10:02 PM

Article image
Chelsea see off Porto despite Mehdi Taremi’s late spectacular
Chelsea lost 1-0 against Porto thanks to Mehdi Taremi’s brilliant goal but they won 2-1 on aggregate to reach the Champions League semi-finals

Sid Lowe at the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán Stadium, Seville

13, Apr, 2021 @9:09 PM

Article image
Sadio Mané sets up Liverpool for comfortable passage past Porto
Goals from Sadio Mané, Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and Virgil van Dijk gave Liverpool a 4-1 win and 6-1 victory on aggregate

Andy Hunter at the Estádio do Dragão

17, Apr, 2019 @9:03 PM