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Spanish prosecutor drops fraud charges against Neymar, others

Saturday, 29 October 2022


BARCELONA, Oct 28 (Reuters): Spanish prosecutors on Friday dropped all fraud and corruption charges against Brazil forward Neymar and other defendants in a case over his transfer to Barcelona from Santos in 2013, the public prosecutor told a court.
Prosecutors had sought a two-year prison term for Neymar and the payment of a 10 million euros ($9.95 million) fine in the case brought by Brazilian investment firm DIS, which owned 40% of the rights to Neymar when he was at Santos.
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 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 fine for Barcelona.