AEK Athens owner off the hook? 15 million settlement fee agreed over fraud allegations
Dimitri Melissanidis at the centre of a scandal
As 101 reported last month,
101greatgoals.com/news/daylight-robbery-aek-athens-owner-alleged-to-have-pumped-stolen-money-into-greek-outfit/” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer”>scandal rocked the Greek footballing world
The business in question, the Aegean Marine Petroleum Network, filed for administration in 2018 after an audit revealed that there were around 200 millions struck from their assets sheet, which was flagged up as potential fraud.
At the same time, Melissanidis stands accused of pumping around 10 million of those funds into AEK, via a middleman, helping fund player signings and cover losses sustained by the Hellas Liga outfit.
Should the claims be proven true, there could be significant repercussions for the club as well as their owner, with AEK having played in the UEFA Europa League as well as having lifted silverware in 2015, the year which the money was used to fund player transfers.
Ronald Vargas (left, mid-jump) was one of those alleged to have been paid for in part by illegal funds. (Photo by Dimitrios Karvountzis/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images).
PWC Greece settle for 14.9 million dollars
Now, as per business outlet Reuters, an update on the situation has emerged.
A settlement has been agreed in a legal dispute between Price Waterhouse-Coopers (an auditing firm), and a Utah pension’s fund that claimed:
“The auditor recklessly disregarded red flags when it audited the fuel transport company’s financial statements in 2016.”
While one case has now been settled, there are still two further cases ongoing. One is against the Greek branch of fellow auditing company Deloitte, who audited the company’s books from 2006-2015.
The second rages on against Melissanidis himself, and former chief financial officer Spyros Gianniotis, where the AEK Athens owner stands accused by Aegean shareholders of being the man in control of the contractor that swindled 300 million dollars out of the company.
All three parties deny the allegations, while PWC refuse to accept that the settlement is an admission of guilt and maintain their innocence on the matter.
The scandal rolls on.
التعليقات على الموضوع