The Civil Guard has presented its final report to the judge on the 'Negreira case, accessed by EL MUNDO, which concludes that Barça paid the number two of the referees for almost two decades 7.5 million euros for arbitration advice that has not been found and provides an important novelty: the wife of the former arbitration official deposited 3 million euros into her accounts during the period in which her partner held the position of vice president of the Technical Arbitration Committee.
The Civil Guard emphasizes that Ana Paula Rufas has deposited in bank accounts and deposits between 1992 and 2023 the mentioned amount, whose origin "is under study to determine the origin of those funds, which, a priori, apparently are unjustified by income and returns from work and capital gains."
Among the latest inquiries conducted by the Civil Guard is the interrogation of Ernesto Valverde, former Barça coach, who explained to the investigators that he was aware that Negreira's son, Javier Enríquez, submitted reports to the club (unlike his father, who was paid without any documentary support), but he does not remember being offered or provided with them. He also indicated that, in any case, "as a professional, he knows the referees and does not need those types of reports to prepare for the matches."
Furthermore, the Civil Guard has taken statements from former executives and employees of the club who have agreed that internal controls were never bypassed. This was testified by Pancho Schröder, former Financial Manager of the club, whose testimony was revealed by this newspaper, and who explained that the reason was that Negreira's hiring was very old, predating the creation of the club's Compliance Department, and the entity had simply renewed his payments.
The investigators also address again Negreira's influence on the arbitration collective, which they consider more than proven, despite being denied by the officials of the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) on several occasions. "He performed relevant functions within the Technical Arbitration Committee (TAC), such as communicating promotions and relegations to the referees, reviewing the scores of the rankings, attending regular meetings, belonging to the Discipline and Merits Committee, as well as the International Coordination Committee." It adds that Negreira "used to visit the TAC headquarters several times a year for various tasks" and also looted the coffers of the arbitration committee and federations like the Catalan one through alleged sales of office supplies or unaccredited advisory services. All thanks to being "a relevant figure in the world of arbitration" and being considered an "influential figure not only at a regional level but also exerting influence nationally."
"He was seen as a boss who commanded respect"
"Negreira was directly involved in communicating with the referees, not only about the provisional rankings communicated at the mid-season physical-technical meetings, but also by telephone to inform the referees of the promotions achieved, both to the First and Second Division," emphasizes the Civil Guard. "He actively participated in all TAC meetings, remained in them throughout all sessions, and integrated into the Committee's 'staff.' Therefore, his figure did not go unnoticed or was just a statutory position, but he interacted with the arbitration collective in numerous official calls." "As some witnesses have described, they saw him as a boss and he commanded respect." Furthermore, according to the Civil Guard, "he was a person close to the president of the TAC, with whom he had a very close relationship and had his complete trust."
The report by the Judicial Police continues that "the vice president's influence within the TAC is also reflected in the figure of his son, Javier Enríquez Romero, who joined the TAC's 'staff' and, as some witnesses have stated, 'everyone knew he was Negreira's son and that he was connected.'" "Javier Enríquez continued for several years attached to the TAC, a circumstance he took advantage of to expand his client portfolio with members of the arbitration collective and then, in the private sphere, provide sports coaching services."
It remains a mystery, however, the final destination of the money that Negreira father received from Barça and withdrew in cash from banks through trusted collaborators. Thus, "it is proven that José Martínez Alfonso, a personal friend of Mr. Negreira, cashed checks of an amount not exceeding 3,000 euros on his behalf, delivering the full amount to him, and on some occasions, delivering it to Conchi, Negreira's secretary." However, the Civil Guard is still unable to determine if with those cash funds, the former arbitration official made payments to third parties, as suspected by the Tax Agency after analyzing these operations.