El Cartel del Gol: the disturbing details of the cause that investigates drug money in the passes of Argentine players

On July 25, 2019, he reached the email box of the Office of the Attorney for Economic Crime and Laundering of Assets an anonymous email. There, with a lot of information, they accused Uriel Perez Jaurena (better known in the world of football by his name and first surname) de tax fraud and money laundering in several countries in which he participated as an intermediary between 2015 and 2019. But the complaint did not stop at that: there was also a alleged connection in the sale of players with spurious money from Mexican capital linked to drug trafficking, the suspicion of an account abroad with a balance greater than ten million dollars and the acquisition of sumptuous goods here and there. Although the identity of the complainant was not determined, the data was too precise to understand that it was someone who had once participated in their environment and later been out of business, or directly from one of the many competitors to whom Uriel Pérez he was eating the market, especially in the negotiation between Argentine and Mexican clubs.

Procelac began an ex officio investigation and began to find indications that the email received had accurate data: several high-end cars, including a Jaguar and a Mercedes Benz, three properties of very important dimensions and valuations (one in Vicente López where the sports representation company, De Nueve, operates, another in Caballito that would be his home address and a third in San Juan), accounts in different banks and a general standard of living that was not consistent with their tax situation. In fact, before a query to the AFIP, the Procelac verified that the representative had registered as a monotaxista until 2016 and afterwards it was not verified that he had submitted affidavits of personal property and gross income. To the treasury, he was much more like a ghost taxpayer than a powerful soccer man.

With all these indications, the judicial complaint was made that fell on the federal prosecutor’s office 2 of San Fernando, headed by Dr. Rodolfo Fernando Domínguez and court 1, headed by Sandra Arroyo Salgado. The prosecutor began to work, found consistencies between what Procelac had and the original complaint and on March 20, 2020, he charged Uriel Pérez with tax evasion and money laundering. But he was not left alone with him, as was made known on Wednesday. Too He charged the transferred players for the same crimes and for those same crimes plus fraudulent administration of the managers of the clubs that participated in the passes and also the officials of the Argentine Football Association. A complete combo that, since the Mexican money that many suspect comes from drug trafficking is in, could easily be called the Gol Cartel, mimicking an investigation of the Mexican press. And the cause, which is a Pandora’s box, is in full process with exhortations to the United States for foreign accounts, with investigation of offshore companies allegedly used to hide profits, and with an eye on what the companies can contribute. Mexican authorities. At a minimum, the under-invoicing of player transactions and money laundering in this area is being investigated to the detriment of the Argentine treasury. Maximum, the inclusion of spurious capital for the sale of players. Yes, an explosive cause.

The passes that are handed to Uriel Pérez in an allegedly criminal way, especially to Mexican soccer, are those of Emanuel Gigliotti, Maximiliano Meza, Jesús Méndez and Federico Mancuello (when they were in Independiente), Jonathan Maidana when he left River, Enrique Triverio (from Unión) and Nicolás Sánchez (sold by Racing). The complaint also includes passes from several other players, but in principle not finding evidence with a high degree of certainty, Justice has them on standby. The truth is that the prosecutor had requested in 2020 the raids of all the properties of Uriel Pérez plus the clubs that would have participated in the maneuver, but the judge only granted them this week. There they took all the papers of the records of the passes to compare them with the information they have, more electronic devices such as security cameras to see who entered and left De Nueve’s office, cell phones to analyze WhatsApp messages and computers to see all files and mails.

The investigators’ working hypothesis is that the money from the Mexican clubs came from drug trafficking and that the Argentine clubs did not make the corresponding suspicious operation reports. That much more money was paid than what is settled in the balance sheets of the institutions and that the surplus was distributed among all those who participated in the maneuver. For this they give two concrete examples. The first, the pass from Triverio de Unión to Toluca. The Santa Fe club would have settled the transfer at $ 850,000, but the actual pass would have been for $ 2,500,000. The second, transfers in dollars from Uriel Pérez’s accounts to Toluca for an amount close to 250,000 dollars and to Cruzeiro, after Mancuello’s pass, for another 50,000. For Justice, it is extremely strange that a representative turns a lot of money to the entity where he transferred his clients instead of receiving the money as an intermediary in the transaction. And since in the accounts that it is supposed to have in Argentina, the balance does not reflect a very important financial situation, it is assumed that everything is transferred through offshore abroad. It will be necessary to prove it.

In the search of the two floors of offices on Libertador avenue, the investigators were struck by finding three money counting machines, a statuette of Al Pacino characterized as Scarface (which relates him to another representative and partner in some activities, Christian Bragarnik, who in his office in Puerto Madero had a giant painting of Scarface) and a firearm, which complicates his situation because he would not have a possession and carrying permit. In addition, according to those who participated in the raid, were surprised when they went to the AFA to request Pérez Jaurena’s license as a representative: there was no.

Now, who is Uriel Pérez, how did he get into this situation and why is he linked to the alleged Gol Cartel? The answer seems to be in its history linked directly to the clubs and Mexican money. Uruguayan, former soccer player who went through many teams in his country in the 90s until he reached the Argentine Ascent at the beginning of this century (he played in Belgrano, Platense, Almagro, Chicago, San Martín de San Juan, until he retired in Defensores de Villa Ramallo), once he left the shorts he started a sports representation company, back in 2007. But it is in 2009 when he really began to work harder, taking advantage of his bond with a Uruguayan soccer businessman, Fernando Pavón, who It was the Uruguayan leg of the Gol Cartel, whose base is in the Aztec capital under the facade of the Promanage company and whose owner is a Mexican named Greg Taylor, the man who manages players and technicians in Mexico like someone who blows and makes bottles .

When Pavón falls into disgrace, supposedly a return that did not reach its destination, it is when Pérez’s influence grows, which according to an investigation in January this year by journalist Amir Ibrahim of the Mexican newspaper Quintana Roo, has a partner there, another Uruguayan , called Rafael Monge. Since then, Uriel Pérez’s growth has been meteoric with transactions in the Toluca, Monterrey, Querétaro clubs, and even América and Cruz Azul, always as an intermediary. His company De Nueve today manages 85 players, and he is also presented as the licensee of the firm Sport Lyon SA, which dresses numerous Argentine football teams (several such as Defense and Justice and Ferro linked precisely to Christian Bragarnik), although in the articles of incorporation and assemblies of the company his name does not appear. But beyond representation, his strength is in the intermediation of passes from players that he does not even represent.

Infobae He tried unsuccessfully to connect with Pérez to hear his side of the story. Since his phone had been seized, this portal contacted the offices and one of his top collaborators, who promised to pass on the message, but the answer never came. What is coming is a high-impact judicial investigation that has Pérez as the central protagonist, but behind several leaders of the raided clubs (the Moyano family is mentioned in the request), the AFA and the players themselves. Pandora’s box is open. We will see how far the surprises of the battered Argentine football go.

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