Argentinian officials on Thursday seized assets from two of the late football legend Diego Maradona’s sisters, his former lawyer and three others, following allegations of fraudulent management of the player’s brand, according to a ruling obtained by AFP.
An appellate court in Buenos Aires indicted Maradona’s former attorney, Matias Morla, and two of his assistants on suspicion of mishandling the player’s assets. Two of Maradona’s sisters, Rita and Claudia, along with a notary, were also prosecuted as accomplices.
The court ordered the seizure of 2 billion pesos, equivalent to 1.34 million dollars, from all six defendants.
Maradona’s children argued that his brand and its subsidiaries should have reverted to them upon his death in 2020 at the age of 60. According to the ruling, Morla’s brand management company was merely a front, with Maradona continuing to exercise control over his assets until his passing. Under those circumstances, the court said, the assets “immediately revert to his heirs.”
Two of Maradona’s daughters, Dalma and Giannina, first raised accusations against Morla and the other defendants in 2021. His three other children later joined the legal case.
Maradona died while recovering from brain surgery. He was found to have died from heart failure and acute pulmonary oedema, a condition where fluid builds up in the lungs, two weeks after the operation.
A separate case examining whether there was medical negligence in his death is awaiting retrial after a judge recused herself over her involvement in a clandestine documentary. That trial was abandoned in May after two months of hearings.
