Benfica’s SAD confirmed to the Securities Market Commission (CMVM) that it was charged with tax fraud and forgery of documents in the process blue bag. And “inherently” the members of the Board of Directors in the mandate from 2016 to 2020 were also accused, including Domingos Soares de Oliveira, who remains in office as co-CEO.
Sport Lisboa e Benfica – Futebol, SAD (“Company”) hereby informs that the Company has been charged with tax fraud, with, inherent and include members who served on the Board of Directors in the period 2016 to 2020, one of whom is still in office also charged with the same offense, as well as with falsifying instrumental documents of the imputed tax fraud. The trial is proceeding as it should and the right of defense will be exercised in due course in accordance with legal procedure,” the incarnate SAD said on Wednesday.
Former president Luís Filipe Vieira and administrator Domingos Soares Oliveira and former finance director Miguel Moreira are charged with three counts of tax fraud and nineteen counts of forgery. According to the indictment, which Agência Lusa had access to, these crimes are attributed to co-authorship with the company DemandFlexible and Defendant José Bernardes, who also responds to money laundering.
Benfica’s SAD is charged with two counts of aggravated tax fraudwhile the Benfica Estádio company of a crime of tax fraud and 19 of document forgery.
Saco Azul’s litigation investigation dates back to 2018, when the Tax and Customs Administration warned of excessive invoicing by a computer consultancy. This company and those responsible were already complained. According to the prosecution’s indictment, Benfica’s SAD will have left more than 1.5 million euros in 2017 on the basis of fictitious invoices. The public prosecutor understands that there was a tax evasion (VAT and IRC) of more than 585 thousand euros, which must be paid “jointly” by all defendants.
There are also two other defendants (Paulo da Silva and José Raposo) who helped José Bernardes evade the tax authorities with the commission charged with issuing false invoices and are therefore charged with 15 crimes of document forgery.
Benfica’s lawyers had asked for the suspension, or at least the suspension of the so-called trial, as first reported by DN, justifying that during the five years of investigation it was not proven that there was a blue bag for third-party payments.
Source: DN
