Napoli President Aurelio De Laurentiis Faces Investigation for Alleged False Accounting in Victor Osimhen Signing

Napoli’s president, Aurelio De Laurentiis has been reportedly placed under investigation on suspicion of false accounting.

The investigation concerns Napoli’s £74million signing of Super Eagles striker Victor Osimhen, who joined the Serie A giants from French side Lille in July 2020.

In order to lure the Nigerian to Naples, the club reportedly offloaded four players for just over £17m, a quarter of Osimhen’s total transfer fee. It was gathered that their wages were overvalued in an effort to inflate capital gains.

As reported by several Italian outlets including La Repubblica and Sky Sports Italia, the Rome Prosecutor has now placed De Laurentiis under investigation for alleged false accounting.

In acquiring Osimhen, Napoli sent back-up goalkeeper Orestis Karnezis to Lille along with three other players from their academy.

Italy’s Financial Police first gathered documents showing that potential balance sheet fraud had taken place and went on to inform Naples’ Public Prosecutor’s Office.