FC Porto searched by tax inspectors after probes at Benfica, Sporting
The AT is investigating an alleged fraud scheme involving player transfers, according to Correio da Manhã newspaper.
FC Porto, one of Portugal’s ‘Big Three’ football clubs, on Wednesday confirmed that its offices were being searched by inspectors from the Tax Authority (AT), as had already happened at its Lisbon rivals Benfica and Sporting, and saying that it was collaborating with justice.
The Porto club confirmed the searches in a note on its official website, which states that club officials are ready to “provide all the elements” that are requested.
Lusa has been told that Benfica and Sporting are also being targeted by the AT.
A source from the National Republican Guard (GNR) told Lusa that members of that police force were backing up the AT operation, in an investigation that is led by the Central Department of Investigation and Prosecution (DCIAP), a branch of the office of public prosecutions.
According to Correio da Manhã newspaper, the AT is investigating an alleged fraud scheme involving player transfers.
Correio da Manhã reports that the searches are linked to an operation by police and prosecutors dubbed ‘Operation Offside’ that has been running for several years with dozens of persons of interest, in a case that is believed to have been triggered by documents accessed and released by Rui Pinto, the main defendant in the ongoing Football Leaks criminal case.
