The US fund Elliott would still have "substantial control" of Milan, while the FIGC would have been "represented the actual transfer of ownership in favor of Gerry Cardinale's RedBird Fund" in 2022. A sale on which various "profiles" would have been found of 'anomaly'", with "doubts" about the "effective ownership of the shares".
It is the accusation hypothesis that has led to a sensational turning point in the Milanese investigation, which has been open for months, into the sale of the Rossoneri club, which took place in August two years ago.
Thus from the initial complaint presented in 2022 by Blue Skye, the former minority shareholder in a long-standing legal dispute with Elliott, today we have arrived at the searches, including in some offices of Casa Milan, against the CEO Giorgio Furlani and the his predecessor Ivan Gazidis.
Both investigated for obstructing the supervisory functions of the FIGC, together with Daniela Italia and Jean Marc Mclean, administrators of the Luxembourg-based Project Redblack, which controls Rossoneri Sport Investment.
Companies through which Elliott sold Milan to RedBird for over one billion euros.
For further information Agenzia ANSA Milan, continuous changes of hands after the Berlusconi era - News - Ansa.it Three changes of ownership in seven years: this is the unstable fate of the Rossoneri after the end of the Berlusconi era.
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From the documents acquired and seized in recent months between Italy and Luxembourg, as stated in the decree signed by prosecutors Giovanni Polizzi and Giovanna Cavalleri in the investigations of the Special Currency Police Unit of the Gdf, it appears that the four suspects, between 2022 and 2023, they would have hidden from the FIGC that Elliott was still managing the club, hiding "due" communications or providing "untrue" information.
Hence the risk for Milan now of sports justice sanctions at an Italian, but also European level, because, the prosecutors write, a "conflict of interest" is looming as Paul Singer's fund "appears to have a dominant influence on another French football club", Lille, "registered in the same European competitions".
And this involves violation of the UEFA Regulations.
Meanwhile, the Rossoneri club specifies that it is "third party and extraneous to the ongoing proceedings", which "also involves the legal representatives with signing power, Giorgio Furlani and Ivan Gazidis, current and previous CEO", and that "it is providing full collaboration to the investigating authority".
In the meantime, the documents reveal that "despite the change of ownership, the members of the board of Ac Milan spa with a share in the Eliott Fund have remained unchanged in their respective corporate positions".
And this even if the American fund had an "intermediary" role in the sale operation.
Furthermore, according to the investigators, "the circumstance would appear to emerge that the majority of the capital used for the sale came from a corporate vehicle not attributable" to RedBird.
Furthermore, from the comparison between the corporate structure provided by the Rossoneri board after the "closing" and that communicated a couple of weeks later to the specific FIGC commission, no "significant differences" were found, we read, but it emerged that at their at the top did not appear the RedBird fund or its administrator Cardinal, but rather "the company Rb Fc Holding Genepar Ll", which has the "same American address" as two companies "majority shareholders of Redblack as an expression of the Elliott fund".
Another anomaly appears to be found in a meeting report sent to the FIGC in which "the parties were excluded" in which the representative of Blue Skye "invited the president of Milan", i.e. Paolo Scaroni (not under investigation), "to clarify whether there were negotiations underway regarding the sale of the company".
Finally, there is a final note from the GDF in February on a "document called 'Ac Milan Investor Presentation'" in which it is confirmed "that the 'vendor loan'", i.e. the seller's loan, "signed between RedBird and Elliott " for the sale, "guarantees ownership of part of the company to the latter investment fund".
Investigations carried out by investigators in relation to rumors of the sale of part of the club's shares "to investors from the Arab world", with whom "the first discussions had already taken place" on 19 December last.
With today's seizures of PCs, telephones and other devices, in search of emails and documents, the prosecutors aim to clarify the "real contours of the operation", as well as the actual "current ownership structure".
PM Milan: 'Milan buyer and seller with the same US address'
Buyer and seller based at the same address in Delaware and a meeting minute with some parts 'whitened out'.
These are two other details that led the Milan Prosecutor's Office, in the investigation into the summer 2020 transfer of Milan, to doubt the actual transfer of ownership of the team.
This can be seen from the search decree and contextual information of guarantee notified today by the Gdf to 4 people, including the CEO Giorgio Furlani and his predecessor, for the crime of obstructing the supervisory activities of the FIGC.
From the analysis of the corporate structure provided by the Rossoneri board after the closing with that communicated a couple of weeks later to the specific Federation commission, no "significant differences" were found, we read in the document, but also that their top management did not appear the RedBlack fund or its administrator Gerald Cardinale, but rather "the company Rb Fc Holding Genepar Ll" which has the "same American address" as two companies "majority shareholders of Redblack as an expression of the Elliott fund".
Another anomaly highlighted is a meeting report sent to the FIGC in which "the parties were excluded" in which the representative of Blue Skye, Elliott's former minority shareholder, "invited the president of Milan to clarify whether there were ongoing negotiations regarding to the sale of the company".
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