Italy’s financial police searched the offices of scandal-hit Serie A club Juventus on Thursday. Officers arrived early morning and went through documents in the presence of Turin prosecutor Bruno Tinti.
Former Juventus general director Luciano Moggi, the central figure of the Italian match-fixing scandal, has now been placed under formal investigation for suspected false accounting and tax evasion.
Another former director, Antonio Giraudo, was already being investigated for the same offences.
The houses of both men were also searched by police.
The investigation concerns the sale of Matteo Brighi from Juventus to Parma in 2002.
Moggi is also suspected of abuse of market position and sporting fraud in separate investigations being conducted in Rome and Naples.
Juventus, Italy’s most successful club, are under suspicion of match-fixing in the 2004-05 season and could be relegated from Italy’s top division if found guilty.
Last week the entire Juventus board resigned in the wake of the scandal that has rocked Italian football.
The furore unfolded when recorded telephone conversations between Moggi and high-ranked Italian football federation officials were published in Italian newspapers.
Moggi, who was regarded as one of the most powerful figures in Italian football, also speaks to referees and politicians. — AFP
