A top football agent has accused a former Chelsea executive of repeatedly lying about a transfer fee in order for the Premier League club to avoid paying him a commission, Southwark crown court has heard.
During an at times irascible appearance as the defendant, the agent Saif Alrubie, said Chelsea’s former director of football Marina Granovskaia misrepresented how much West Ham had paid the west London club for France defender Kurt Zouma in 2021 – effectively cutting him out of the deal and depriving him of fees.
After chasing the alleged debt in a May 2022 email, Alrubie was arrested in September that year as he disembarked a plane landing in London. He was then questioned by police and charged with sending an “electronic communication with intent to cause distress or anxiety”.
Alrubie denies he is guilty of committing an offence contrary to the Malicious Communications Act 1988 and says that his message was only trying to “convey the threat of legal action”.
“She’s a liar,” Alrubie told the court about Granovskaia. “She lied about the transfer fee in her statement.”
Jurors had previously heard that Granovskaia had told Alrubie during 2021 that he would receive a commission if Zouma sold for more than €30m.
There is a dispute between the prosecution and the defence regarding the exact value of the Zouma transfer. However, Granovskaia told the court on Tuesday that West Ham paid Chelsea £29m including “add-ons”.
Alrubie said he sent the May 2022 email in order to collect £300,000 in commissions that he believed he was owed on that deal.
His comments about Granovskaia came on a day when he was repeatedly warned by the judge about the manner in which he was answering questions from the witness box, with the defendant frequently telling prosecutor, Arizuna Asante, that his questions were “irrelevant”.
At one point, Judge Tomlinson stated loudly: “Stop! Stop! Stop!” before instructing the defendant: “Just listen to the question and answer.”
The jury also heard from another football agent, Barry Silkman, who had worked with Alrubie on Zouma’s transfer to West Ham. Silkman said he had been told by West Ham’s largest shareholder that the transfer fee had been €33.9m. “I asked David Sullivan what the deal was and he told me,” he said.
The allegedly threatening message sent by Alrubie to Granovskaia in May 2022 stated: “I’m sure you’ve heard the story about your other friend Kia [Joorabchian, another football agent] when he owed me money for a year and how he ended up paying it. Wouldn’t want you to be in the same situation just because you have a personal issue with me.’’
The message is alleged to refer to a supposed incident in 2013 when Joorabchian claims to have been confronted by about 12 debt collectors at his office – and separately relieved of his expensive watch at a restaurant – as part of an effort to put pressure on him into repaying money allegedly owed to Alrubie.
Alrubie told the jury he had nothing to do with the 2013 incident, but when interviewed by police he said: “[Joorabchian] owed [me] about £50,000 for a year … He was spotted having dinner with the Brazilian football team and one of my old associates, no longer, went up to him and Kia then … because he knew he owed the money he said: ‘OK I’m gonna pay, I’m gonna pay, I’m gonna pay.’ But obviously Kia’s been dodging and avoiding paying for a while, so he ended up handing over his watch voluntarily.”
Alrubie told the jury there were two episodes, with him speaking about an incident in 2009 during his police interview.
On Wednesday, the court heard how Joorabchian had secretly flown to the US the night before he was due to give evidence in the trial.
Jury members had been told to expect to hear key evidence from Joorabchian on Tuesday. However, they were informed by prosecution counsel that Joorabchian had taken a private jet to the US on Monday night without informing the court. He will now not appear as a witness.
The case continues.
