Joan Laporta denies involvement in failed football-related investments 

FC Barcelona president Joan Laporta appeared in court on Friday, denying that a company in which he was a partner defrauded a woman who had invested €100,000.

In his testimony as a person under investigation, he stated that he was not involved in the day-to-day management of a Hong Kong-based company and that he was a partner, but not an administrator, of a company that owned the Catalan football club Reus Deportiu, according to legal sources.

He also stated that he did not participate in or sign any of the investor's contracts, and that he has never met or spoken with her.

The investor's fraud complaint had initially been dismissed, but the Barcelona court ordered the case to be reopened.

Also scheduled to testify on Friday were Barcelona's current sporting vice president, Rafa Yuste, economist Xavier Sala i Martín, and former TV3 director and ex-Barcelona general manager Joan Oliver. As they did not receive proper notification, their testimonies will be postponed to another date.

The complainant is a woman who in 2016 reportedly invested around €100,000 in two companies linked to the individuals under investigation.

According to legal sources, she invested €50,000 in shares of the Chinese company CSSB Limited, which are reportedly still valid. She also loaned €50,000 to Core Store, a Barcelona-based company that at the time owned Reus Deportiu.

She was supposed to receive 6% interest on the loan, but initially received only €12,000.

According to the prosecution, she has received a total of €35,000, though Laporta's defense maintains that she has already been paid all the interest owed and most of her original investment.

Laporta's lawyer, Jordi Pujante, said the complaint is based on "press clippings, falsehoods, and half-truths" and that there was no fraud, at most a breach of contract.