Buenos Aires, December 29 (NA) – Chamber 7 of the National Appeals Court in Criminal and Correctional Matters upheld the indictments of lawyer Matías Morla and the sisters of Diego Armando Maradona in the case investigating the alleged illegal appropriation of the trademarks belonging to the celebrated football player. According to the 25-page document accessed by the Argentine News Agency, the defenses of the lawyer, his brother-in-law Maximiliano Pomargo, the notary Sandra Iampolsky, Sergio Garmendia - the lawyer's employee, Ana and Rita Maradona had appealed the indictments issued in mid-September. 'At the time of the appeal, some of the defenses argued that Chamber IV had exceeded the competence enabled by the recourse of the actively legitimized parties,' the document states. It is indicated that 'it was understood that the claim did not lie in the prosecution of the accused but, in any case, in revoking the dismissal that had been issued, annulling it or having another court rule on the matter.' Judges Juan Esteban Cicciaro, Rodolfo Pociello Argerich and Ricardo Matías Pinto dismissed Morla's challenge regarding the alleged lack of proof and the 'enormous deficiency' that was invoked, as a consequence of the non-existence of 'important documents' that support the accusation. Furthermore, the magistrates considered it 'correct' that Sattvica S.A. was a 'corporate façade', since it 'did not carry out any economic activity for several years', according to the information provided by the General Inspection of Justice (IGJ). The appellate judges understood that the supposed desire of Maradona to 'be able to deliver the fruit of his years as an elite athlete to his sisters and not to his daughters' cannot prevail because it violates the principles of succession law (Articles 2277 et seq. of the Civil and Commercial Procedural Code). In this sense, it is highlighted that Dalma, Gianinna, Jana, Diego Maradona Junior and Dieguito Fernando have the possibility to access a 'legitimate portion' of the will of 'The Ten' (Article 2444). Morla, Pomargo and Garmendia are accused as co-authors of the crime of fraud and fraudulent administration (Articles 45 and 173, section 7 of the Penal Code and Article 306 of the National Criminal Procedure Code). For their part, the two sisters of the former Boca player and Iampolsky are accused as necessary accomplices in the same illicit act. Morla served as president of Sattvica S.A. until September 2022, but in February 2021, the Justice ordered him to transfer the management of the image rights of the 1986 World Cup champion in Mexico to the heirs.
