Back in April, we covered a story from Belgium revolving around accusations of money laundering and criminal association, with the transfer of Aleksandar Mitrovic from Anderlecht to Newcastle United said to be ‘at the heart’ of the investigation.
Pini Zahavi and Fali Ramadani were reportedly involved in the deal, and police ended up raiding the Belgian side’s training ground, as well as the company One Goal management, who specialise in football transfers.
It all went a bit quiet after that, but the case has been brought back into the spotlight after two arrests took place on Tuesday and Wednesday, including that of Thibaut Courtois’ agent, Christophe Henrotay, according to RTBF in Belgium.
The Belgian outlet, who broke the story, report seven separate searches took place around Europe (four in Monaco, two in the Liège region of Belgium and one in London), with both arrests coming off the back of ‘suspicions of money laundering, corruption and criminal association in the context football player transfers’.
RTBF report Henrotay was apprehended in Monaco, where he is currently being held by the local police.
A Belgian investigating judge is also said to be present, and there is still a possibility that an international arrest warrant could be issued.
The name of the second person has also been revealed by RTBF, and that is Christophe Cheniaux, who is Henrotay’s brother-in-law and one of his main collaborators.
Prior to this, the website explain the renowned Belgian agent was already in a dispute after one of his former collaborators, Peter Smeets, accused Henrotay of pocketing a €6m commission from Youri Tielemans’ transfer to Monaco, with Smeets filing a complaint about the issue.
The Leicester midfielder has since stopped working with Henrotay, who also used to be the agent of renowned players such as Romelu Lukaku, Leander Dendoncker and Michy Batshuayi.
