Sale of Gallos Blancos linked to same money-laundering network as Collado

The sale of the soccer team “ Gallos Blancos de Querétaro” was linked to the money laundering network of which lawyer Juan Collad o is accused to have benefited from and why he is still arrested.

So affirmed the businessman Sergio Hugo Bustamante Figueroa in his appearances on June 20th and 25th before Mexico Attorney General’s Office (FGR).

He detailed that José Antonio Rico Rico used credits granted by Libertad Servicios Financieros S.A. de C.V. to purchase the Gallos Blancos de Querétaro.

Later on, Rico Rico sold the franchise of the team to Amado Yáñez , owner of Oceanografía , who paid USD $8 million.

“Mr. José Antonio Rico Rico showed us the promissory notes signed by Mr . Amado Yáñez , in favor of Rico, for USD $8 million , since Mr. Rico Rico sold the soccer team Gallos Blancos to him, Mr. Amado Yáñez, he paid Rico Rico USD $8 million,” he noted.

Such money, he explained, was allegedly divided between Rico Rico and the lawyer Juan Collado, but the credits were never paid.

In 2012

, José Muñoz offered the team to José Antonio Rico Rico, told Bustamante, who back then worked in Libertad Servicios Financieros, and the purchase was finalized in a meeting in the restaurant “Los Gallos” in Querétaro.

“After several meetings, which I attended them all, there was a final meeting with the owner at that moment of the team Gallos Blancos. The meeting was held in a restaurant in the city of Querétaro called “Los Gallos,” in behalf of Libertad the participants were C.P. José Antonio Rico Rico , C.P. Juan Pablo Rangel Contreras , at that moment CEO of Libertad Servicios Financieros S.A. de C.V. S.F.P., José María Fernández Gamez , Chief Financial Officer of Libertad Servicios Financieros S.A de C.V. S.F.P., Marte David Bustamante Figueroa , my brother and then President of the Board of Credit of Libertad Servicios Financieros S.A de C.V. S.F.P.; Mr. Bardomiano González Linares and Mr. Javier González, as advisors, and Mr. Eduardo Campos , external trainer of Libertad Servicios Financieros S.A de C.V. S.F.P., apart from the undersigned.

“In behalf of the sellers, three people, and two known people, Mr. José Muñoz (we called him Pepe) and, surprise!, Mr. Tirso Martínez (yes, the one arrested in the U.S.) called “ El Ingeniero .” We had dealings with him,” he described.

In that meeting, it was allegedly negotiated a price of USD $7 million for the sale of the team through a scheduling of payments idea of Rangel Contreras , Fernández Gamez , González Linares , Javier González, and Eduardo Campos.

The schedule established that Libertad Servicios Financieros would pay the invoices for services such as construction, remodeling, among others , to different companies property of Tirso Martínez "El Ingeniero ,” buddy of Amado Carrillo “El Señor de los Cielos, ” accused of money laundering for the narco through the soccer teams Querétaro, Irapuato, and La Piedad , and the transfer of soccer players from Colombia , like Carlos Gutiérrez from Millonarios de Medellín, who was sold to the Necaxa.

“Against those invoices we settled the gross amount, back then the income of Libertad Servicios Financieros was limited to the contributions of each one of the hundreds of thousands of partners . The different operational meetings for the delivery and reception of the team took place in the hotel San Gil in the city of Querétaro.

“We finally acquired the ownership of the team, we never clarified who would keep it, since the day of the news that an institution from Querétaro had purchased the team, we notified C.P. Rico Rico that the purchase of a soccer team would be seen negatively in the social and financial area , that is why we chose the very same day to talk to the brothers Jorge and Alejandro Vázquez Mellado to “ pretend ” to have bought the team, which was not true, in the end for the suspicions about the real owners of the team, the same (team) was disenrolled with the other team, the Irapuato, apparently owned by the “Ingeniero” Tirso Martínez, of which I am not aware,” he said.

The Vázquez Mellado brothers made several arrangements so that the Mexican Federation of Football Socce r attested the legal sale of the Gallos Blancos and enrolled the team once more.

Bustamante said to the FGR that he learned from Vázquez Mellado that even Diego Fernández de Ceballos , member of the Nacional Action Party (PAN), participated in those arrangements to no success.

Collado linked to international money-laundering network