Courts Clear Laporta and Co. — No Crime Found in Disputed Investment Case

FC Barcelona president Joan Laporta has secured another legal victory, after Barcelona's Court of Investigation No. 22 decided to dismiss the fraud lawsuit filed against him, along with Rafa Yuste, Xavier Sala i Martín, and Joan Oliver, in a case involving total investments of 91,500 euros in two companies, over which the complainant had appeared in court this past January. The judge overseeing the case stated that no evidence was found, either in the complaint or the submitted documents, to prove the existence of any agreements or actions of a criminal nature by the accused, adding that any potential dispute would relate to a possible contractual breach to be examined in civil court, rather than through criminal proceedings. The ruling marks Laporta's second legal victory in a short span of time, after the Barcelona Provincial Court dismissed an earlier fraud lawsuit within the same file in early June, brought by former tennis player Albert Ramos.