A new legal victory for Laporta: Barcelona court rejects fraud lawsuit

Laporta

No fraud in the Ríos case

Joan Laporta has landed another legal victory in the case tied to the club Reus Deportiu, according to Spanish press reports. The Barcelona president can breathe a little easier.

Court of First Instance number 22 in Barcelona threw out the lawsuit brought by Maria Teresa Alibau Batch against Laporta, his deputy Rafael Yuste, Xavier Sala Martin and Joan Oliver, along with the companies Kor Stor and CSSB Limited, on charges of fraud. That's according to Spanish newspaper "Mundo Deportivo".

Judge Marta Bo set out the reasoning behind her ruling: "The lawsuit does not contain any elements that would allow the conclusion that there are facts constituting the crime of fraud, and no intent to criminalise the transactions in the manner claimed by the plaintiff has been established."

The case stems from two investments the plaintiff made in Reus Deportiu through those two companies. She acknowledged receiving the returns on the first investment, and the court dismissed the complaint over the second because there was no evidence of any criminal activity.

This is the second ruling in Laporta's favour in a short space of time. At the beginning of last June, the Barcelona Provincial Court dismissed the first fraud lawsuit in the same file, brought by former tennis player Albert Ramos. He had accused Joan Oliver, the former general manager of Barcelona and the largest shareholder in Reus, of deceiving him in a failed commercial project. The court denied any fraud had taken place and upheld the investigating judge's ruling.