Neymar faces fraud trial for Barcelona transfer from Santos

By JOSEPH WILSON
Associated Press

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Neymar will return to Spain on Monday to face trial on fraud charges regarding his 2013 transfer from Santos to Barcelona. The Brazil forward, his father, and the former executives of Barcelona and Santos are accused of hiding the true cost of his transfer with the alleged goal of cheating a private Brazilian company that claims to have been owed 40% of future transfers. Brazilian supermarket chain DIS says it acquired 40% of Neymar’s rights directly from the player in 2009. But that it only received a percentage from 17 million euros that Barcelona paid Santos, when the true cost of the move was more than 80 million euros. All the accused deny any wrongdoing.