Capital gains case: Juve collaborates, Cherubini explains the Paratici method to prosecutors

Federico Cherubini spent a different Saturday that he would have gladly done without. He was not in his usual position on the sidelines at the Allianz Stadium in the pre-match of Juve-Atalanta and not even in the stands, because he spent the day on the fifth floor of the Turin Public Prosecutor’s Office, first questioned in the “Prisma” investigation, the storm that caused invested the club but which could also have heavy repercussions on Italian football, which has long been struggling with increasingly losing budgets and hardly sustainable investments. In the investigation entrusted to a pool of magistrates of the Economy group, which is mainly based on wiretapping by the Guardia di Finanza, Juventus is involved for administrative responsibility and six executives (Andrea Agnelli, Pavel Nedved and Stefano Cerrato) and ex (Fabio Paratici, Marco Re and Stefano Bertola), under investigation for false communications from listed companies and issuing of invoices for non-existent transactions. Cherubini is not among the suspects, but he was heard as a person informed of the facts and is considered a key witness by the investigators, the one who most of all can confirm and explain “the Paratici management”, executive with strategic responsibility “author of the preventive planning of capital gains”.

Phrases and contracts

—

Cherubini entered the Prosecutor’s Office early in the morning and left when it was pitch dark. More than nine hours of interrogation to retrace the three years of financial operations, during which the Bianconero provided valuable elements for the investigation. Prosecutors Mario Bendoni, Ciro Santoriello and the deputy Marco Gianoglio asked him to contextualize many interceptions and clarifications on purchases and sales of players that fueled the capital gains mechanism. The investigation focuses on the 2018-19, 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons for a total figure of 282 million deriving from transactions “characterized by fraudulently increased values”. Cherubini (whose minutes have been classified) joined Juventus in 2012 as head of the youth sector. He worked on the Under 23 team before becoming Paratici’s number two and then taking their place last June, becoming Football Director. In the three years under investigation he was the operating arm of the former head of the sports area, now at Tottenham, and it is inevitable that he will be involved in many conversations. The manager was very collaborative, helping the prosecutors to rebuild the system set up by Paratici, which according to the accusation was based on capital gains used in a distorted way that caused an imbalance in the Bianconeri accounts and whose financial consequences, however, the board and Agnelli they were aware. Maximum cooperation also from the club during the 12 hours of search.

Serene Juve

—

It is not excluded that other executives may be called in the next few days, including the CEO. Arrivabene, the head of the Under 23 Manna and the secretary Morganti, whose offices were searched together with that of Cherubini and the suspects. Meanwhile, Juventus remains calm and confident, as written on Saturday in the press release, “to clarify every aspect of interest, believing that it has operated in compliance with the laws and regulations governing the preparation of financial reports, in compliance with accounting principles and in line with international football industry practice and market conditions “.