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MADRID, March 24 - Former president of Real Betis
and the club's leading shareholder Manuel Ruiz de Lopera has
been accused by the state prosecutor's office of abusing his
position and siphoning off capital from the club. The prosecutor's office said Lopera had drained the funds
via his Encadesa business which had been given exclusive rights
to administer the earnings produced by the club. In a statement the prosecutor said that Lopera had "abused
his position for his own or a third party benefit and prejudiced
the interests of the club", adding that Encadesa's accounts
"lacked transparency". The statement went on to say that Betis's accounts showed
losses of over 11 million euros ($17.01 million) and that the
club owed 8.29 million euros to the tax office. If found guilty Lopera could face a sentence of between six
months and four years in prison as well as a heavy fine. (Reporting by Simon Baskett, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
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