The San Lorenzo club released an official statement informing the public about a raid carried out at its facilities today. According to the Argentine News Agency, Federal Police officers headed to the club's administrative headquarters on Avenida La Plata and to its Ciudad Deportiva sports complex, searching for evidence linking the institution to the case. The finance company Sur Finanzas, which has close ties to the president of the Argentine Football Association (AFA), Claudio 'Chiqui' Tapia, is under investigation for alleged money laundering. As one of the 18 clubs raided so far due to various connections with Sur Finanzas, San Lorenzo published a statement clarifying how the evidence collection was conducted. According to the club's press department, the institution has been under investigation since this morning, ordered by the Federal Criminal and Correctional Court No. 2 of Lomas de Zamora. The operation involved officers from the Federal Police and the Tax and Customs Revenue Agency (ARCA). They 'were assisted at all times by club personnel', with the intention of 'collaborating with every request' until the demands of both organizations were met. Clarifying that 'San Lorenzo is fully at the disposal of the Justice', 'Ciclón' joined a list of 18 teams from various Argentine football categories, whose ties with the company managed by Graciela and Ariel Vallejo are being corroborated. Among these clubs are Banfield, the first to have the financier's sponsorship when it was just a few months old, Independiente, Racing, and Barracas Central, the club Tapia presided over before taking the helm of the AFA. Additionally, raids have been carried out at two of the main football authority's headquarters: at Viamonte 1366, the association's historic headquarters, and at the Lionel Andrés Messi facility in Ezeiza, where the national teams train. The headquarters of the Argentine Football Superliga was also searched. The case investigating the finance company, which has several branches in the Federal Capital, Banfield, and Adrogué, among others, concerns the laundering of $72.342 million through the use of 74 fake companies.
