Accusations of money laundering and fraud against Barcelona presidential candidate Joan Laporta have been dismissed by a judge this week. A week ago, charges were filed against him by a Barcelona member, in the middle of the election race for what would be Laporta’s fourth term in office if he wins.
Opposition candidate Victor Font denied that the complaint had any relation to himself, and requested that it be removed. Meanwhile Laporta himself described the complaint as opaque, suspicious and cowardly.
The complaint concerned not only Laporta, but a number of his fellow board members and senior directors, also featured. It has been reported by El Periodico (via Sport) that Judge Santiago Pedraz has dismissed the charges as the money laundering accusation, which concerned an alleged series of businesses in Cyprus and Dubai, also took place in Catalonia. The court in question, the grand jury, only deals with money laundering cases that take place exclusively abroad.
As such, for the charges to be considered, they must be filed in the regional court in Barcelona. Sport say that the member in question, Isidro Navarro, who filed the complaint is considering doing so, and is yet to decide on a course of action.
🚨 Joan Laporta has arrived at the Auditori 1899 to deliver his 8,171 collected signatures to run for the Presidency. The former president arrived with a truck bearing the slogan of his campaign "Defensem el Barça". He collected more than 2,000 signatures less than in 2021…
— barcacentre (@barcacentre) March 2, 2026
Included in the complaint are five major deals that Laporta and his baord carried out. The €50m commission paid to Darren Dein in the Nike deal, the lease of VIP seats for 30 years to New Era Visionary Group (NEVG), the award of the Camp Nou telecommunications contract to NEVG, the sale of digital assets relating to Bridgeburg Invest/Barca Vision and the award of the Camp Nou construction project to Limak are all called into question.
