Money laundering, false identities and criminals behind team purchases. The undercover investigation of Al Jazeera exclusively revealed the troubled world of English football: according to intermediaries heard undercover by investigative journalists, UK teams would be bought by criminals to launder the proceeds of their illegal actions. The survey called The Men Who Sell Football it shows how behind the purchases the money and identity of a criminal can be hidden through the use of offshore trusts, how the same intermediaries use “dirty tricks” to obtain new passports for criminals and deceive the football authorities. “Football fans should be angry that the investigation shows the vulnerability of the English football system to funds of dubious origin and unsuitable owners for their clubs,” said Ben Cowdock of Transparency International, which investigates money laundering. «The investigation of Al Jazeera on the ownership of football clubs ”, he continued,“ will be of great interest to the police and also to the English football authorities ”.
The tricks of the “Magician”
Posing as agents of a fictional wealthy Chinese criminal, I-Unit undercover reporters contacted an intermediary, Christopher Samuelson, who helped them reach the brink of a deal to buy Derby County, one of the oldest football clubs. of England and two-time champion of England in the 1970s. “The Magician” is the nickname by which Samuelson calls himself: his business is to manage trust funds and present himself as a football agent. A true ace in his field, so much so that offshore finance analyst Adrian Gatton speaks of him as “capable of making an elephant disappear”. The reference is to Samuelson’s ability to hide money using trust accounts. The subject of money laundering investigations in several European countries, however, “the magician” has never been accused.
Undercover reporters told Samuelson that their client, a Mr. X, had been sentenced to seven years in prison, in absentia for corruption and money laundering, and that he had smuggled money out of China through Macau casinos. The request made to the “Magician” at that point was to launder Mr. X’s money by buying a football team. A completely illegal act for the English Football League (EF.L) which excludes from ownership of a club anyone who has an unspoken criminal sentence with a sentence of more than 12 months.
“We will find a way to cheat them”
Unfazed by the client’s crimes, Samuelson provided a step-by-step guide on how to use offshore trusts to hide investor money and identity. The Magician thus proposed using two so-called minority investors to cover the purchase of Derby County as joint shareholders of an offshore company. At that point a “declaration of trust” would have been needed which would have made them the holders of the shares of Mr. X, who in this way would have kept their identity hidden. “I’ll find an idea of how we can structure the plan in order to defeat the EFL. I can put pressure on the football league, ”Samuelson told undercover reporters Al Jazeera. “We will manage. We will just do it ». Hence the proposal to journalists to help them obtain a new passport for their client and give him a new name to deceive the football authorities. Immediately after the presentation of the contacts of Cyprus that would have dealt with the forgery. An investigation into the investigation, which opened the criminal path of Cypriot passports to investigators with related resignations, investigations by the EU and the Cypriot government, up to the numerous anti-corruption demonstrations organized in Cyprus. Arriving at the deal, the Magician took the undercover reporters to the Derby Count headquarters for a meeting with club owner Mel Morris: the deal to be discussed counted 99 million pounds (137 million dollars) for the purchase of the squad.
Everton and Aston Villa among Samuelson’s teams
As explained by Al Jazeera, Samuelson has long been an actor in international affairs. In the 1990s, he helped build Valmet, one of the largest trust companies offshore of the world. His companies have transferred hundreds of millions of dollars out of Russia for oligarchs, including Boris Berezovsky and “Badri” Patarkatsishvili. In 2004, he arranged a deal using opaque offshore trusts for a secret Russian tycoon to buy the Premier League club, theEvertonThe deal fell apart after the tycoon’s name, Boris Zingarevich, leaked to the media. In 2012 and 2016, he entered into agreements for the purchase of two English clubs: respectively the Reading e l’Aston Villa. Both were brought to the brink of financial ruin under mysterious new owners.
