“They pretended to be agents”: Sculli and Pepe investigated for unlawful practice of the profession

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Forgery, unlawful practice of the sports agent profession and attempted extortion. Those are the extremely serious charges prosecutor Saverio Francesco Musolino has brought against Simone Pepe and Giuseppe Sculli, former Serie A footballers who are both under investigation by the Rome prosecutor's office, along with sports agent Luigi Iachini Bellisarii and lawyer Alessandro Buccieri.

According to the investigation, Pepe and Sculli are alleged to have acted as agents without the necessary licence, managing negotiations and financial agreements for young football prospects and, according to the accusation, filing contracts with forged signatures with Coni. When footballers Costantino Favasuli (who came through Fiorentina's youth sector) and Davide Bettella (a former defender with a past in the youth ranks of Inter, Atalanta and Frosinone) later decided to end the professional relationship, the suspects allegedly tried to secure payment of a penalty worth hundreds of millions in the event of early termination of the mandate. Iachini Bellisarii was the only licensed sports agent. But according to the prosecutor, Pepe, Sculli and Buccieri were the ones doing the real work, seeking out players and negotiating the financial agreements.