Diego Costa being investigated by Police over alleged betting scandal

[Davidvictorson]

The police in Brazil is investigating the former Chelsea Star, Diego Costa over his involvement in money laundering and foreign currency exchange fraud and criminal association that involved Esportenet, an online betting site. Diego Costa’s lawyer has said he is innocent.

Sergipe State Police said in a statement: "On Wednesday morning Sergipe State Police launched the second phase of an operation codenamed Distraction.

"The aim is obtaining evidence for an investigation into the alleged practices of exploitation of gambling, money laundering, foreign currency exchange and criminal association involving the ESPORTENET betting site, its owners, financial operators and financier.

"In the first phase of the operation, which began on March 3 this year, documents and electronic equipment were seized that allowed the investigation to be deepened and the amount of £1.77million in cash was seized.

"Based on the evidence collected, it was possible to identify other betting platforms used by the group and individual companies and legal entities for alleged money laundering and foreign exchange fraud

"The participation of money changers that help the criminal organisation to allegedly commit foreign exchange fraud was verified, as well as the participation of a football player who is allegedly the financier of the criminal scheme.

"At this stage, the investigation is focused on the foreign exchange fraud, with specific focus on the money changers and the betting site's financier.

"Seven search and seizure warrants are being executed, two in Itabaiana in Sergipe, one in Lagarto in Sergipe, two in Simao Dias in Sergipe, one in Salvador in the state of Bahia and one in Sao Paulo.

"The warrants were issued by a judge sitting at Itabaaina’s Sixth Federal Court.

"Warrants for the seizure of property belonging to those involved in the criminal scheme are also being executed."

https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/football/16299098/diego-costa-police-investigation/

The punishment for money laundering offences in Brazil is between 3 to 10 years and a fine.

Under article 1 of Law 9,613/98, the penalty for money laundering is imprisonment for between three and 10 years and a fine.

https://iclg.com/practice-areas/anti-money-laundering-laws-and-regulations/brazil

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[zanezane]

Wow, another player involved on some sort of scandal, not really surprised that there's people like this because there are other players in the past that was involved in this kind of thing before like the Panama papers that mentioned some names of big players in football although there's not a lot. Why would they risk their career over this kind of stuff though, it's as if they're trying to self sabotage.

[Sterbens]

Last year, Diego Costa was also given a sentence of 6 months after he was identified for the act of embezzling a large amount of tax money. This made him not deterred by all the accusations of course what this time was reported to show that he was really guilty of what he did. Regardless of the excuse the lawyer said. Btw it turns out that the punishment is quite terrible if it is affected by betting. Even in 2019 few paid fines like Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and several other stars.

[Jackl87]

I don't really know what Diego Costa has done or what they say that he has done but i never understood why it is such a big Deal if football players are betting on their own games. In the end he is only one out of 22 players and i don't think he has enough influence to manipulate a game. If he bets that his own Team is losing then of course it is a little fight, but if he bets on his Team to win then it is just a little extra Motivation on top for him.

[DU18]

I think the case is still under police investigation, so it is too early to suspect if Costa is fully involved in the case, and from some news that I have read now several people including Costa are being investigated by the Brazilian police for money laundering and foreign exchange fraud cases involving gambling sites and of course it is still only a guess, so it is better for us to wait for the results of the investigation.
I think the case of Diego Costa today is almost the same as what happened to Ibrahimovich a few months ago but now in fact Ibrahimovich is still continuing his career with AC Milan .

[pinggoki]

AFAIK he already had a history of committing fraudulent activities like embezzlement and tax fraud, costing him jail time in the past. If that's so, then he either sucks at hiding the bones in his closet, or he has a very good lawyer, but I digress. If he already has issues like these in the past there's no point in keeping him active in the sport he plays in, it's just gonna throw dirt to the game and would cause further detriments not only to him but to other players associated with him as well, or have they done that already?

I don't really know what Diego Costa has done or what they say that he has done but i never understood why it is such a big Deal if football players are betting on their own games. In the end he is only one out of 22 players and i don't think he has enough influence to manipulate a game. If he bets that his own Team is losing then of course it is a little fight, but if he bets on his Team to win then it is just a little extra Motivation on top for him.

Regardless if he is a player or not that bets in his own games, the previous accusations against him are a bit too big to leave unnoticed, embezzlement and tax fraud are some grave crimes that even a regular guy that does not have any following would be subject to the law. As for the newer accusations against him, for me, it still counts as an offense since it's pretty much manipulating your chances of getting a pay. It doesn't make sense the way I put it but personally, it's unfair to get a boost in some way or another while a game is yet to, or is already transpiring.

[mv1986]

I am not at all surprised that "Dirty Diego" is at the center of a money laundering scandal through a bookmaker's office. It is interesting to see how further events will develop, but personally I have no doubts about his involvement in the fraud and it is only a matter of time before he gets a real prison sentence.

If it is true that that guy tried to scam with sportsbetting or whatever, he should be banned from playing soccer forever. How on earth can you scam in sportsbetting for a couple of 100k when your salary is in the (many many) millions? Is that just a tendency towards being a criminal or cool, or is he in need of money? Both would be utterly stupid.