Italian prosecutors are looking into an allegation of embezzlement around last summer's £1bn takeover of AC Milan.
An initial complaint was brought by Blue Skye, a Luxembourg-based investment firm with minority stake in the club, against former owners Elliott Investment Management. Blue Skye allege that there was financial misappropriation during last summer's sale of the Serie A giants to the RedBird Capital investment firm that also owns a stake in Liverpool.
The Guardia di Finanza’s special currency unit are now looking into the matter and acquiring documents relating to the takeover. Italy's tax police said that no individuals have been named in connection with the investigation.
RedBird, who also have a minor stake in Premier League giants Liverpool, are not commenting but the investigation is understood to be focused on the previous owners.
Blue Skye, which owned about 4% of the club, filed an appeal with Milan’s Civil Court last September that attempted to block the sale - only for it to have already been completed. At the time, Blue Skye alleged that they had not "been able to obtain any information on the sale, in which they were directly interested" and referred to the takeover being an "opaque" operation.
They blamed previous owners Elliott of engaging in negotiations "behind closed doors", thus denying Blue Skye a seat at the table. At the time Elliott said those allegations were "frivolous and vexatious."
In a statement, they added: “Blue Skye owns nothing more than a small indirect stake in AC Milan, whose vast majority is made up of capital controlled and paid up by Arena Investors, which in turn strongly and publicly condemns Blue Skye’s actions.
“The transaction with RedBird fully respects this interest, all necessary corporate approvals have been obtained at every stage of the transaction, and Blue Skye will receive all sums to which it is entitled. Elliott and Arena Investors will vigorously defend each of their interests against Blue Skye’s frivolous and vexatious actions and fully expect to prevail.”
Blue Skye's appeal, which was against Elliott and not RedBird, was withdrawn after an acceptance that the takeover was finalised.
RedBird, which is run by Gerry Cardinale, completed their purchase of Milan on August 31 in a deal worth €1.2bn that also saw the owners of the New York Yankees purchase a minority stake.
RedBird's Liverpool shares come via their investment in Fenway Sports Group. They also own Ligue 1 side Toulouse and Indian Premier League cricket franchise Rajasthan Royals.
"Our vision for Milan is clear: we will support our talented players, coaches and staff to deliver success on the pitch and allow our fans to share in the extraordinary experiences of this historic club," Cardinale said upon completion of the Milan deal in August.
"We will look to leverage our global sports and media network, our analytics expertise, our track record in sports stadium developments and hospitality to deliver one goal - maintaining Milan’s place at the summit of European and world football."
Milan presently sit second in Serie A, 12 points behind Napoli at the midway point, having won the title last season for the first time in 11 years. They will face Tottenham Hotspur in the Champions League round of 16 next month.
