Monaco, Sept 23, 2019 (AFP) - Belgian football agent Christophe Henrotay, who was arrested on September 10 in connection with an investigation into suspicious transfers, has been released on bail, a Monaco court announced on Monday.
"He deposited 250,000 euros ($275,000) in bail and he cannot leave Monaco," said prosecutor Sylvie Petit-Leclair.
Henrotay, whose biggest clients are Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois and the Belgian internationals Kevin Mirallas and Yannick Carrasco, is the subject of an arrest warrant in Belgium which is likely to be ratified in the coming weeks.
The investigation concerns suspected fraudulent payments in a number of transfers, notably in two moves involving Aleksandar Mitrovic and Anderlecht.
The first was in 2013 when the Serbian striker joined the Brussels club from Partizan Belgrade for about five million euros and the second in 2015 when he was sold to Newcastle for about 18 million euros.
Henrotay has not yet been formally charged. A source close to the investigation said this would happen at his first court appearance in Belgium.
According to his lawyer Dimitri de Beco, quoted by Belgian newspaper La Derniere Heure, Henrotay is ready to "answer the unfounded accusations".
This case has already given rise to two rounds of searches, first at the end of April at the headquarters of Anderlecht and the Belgian Football Federation (in the Brussels region), then on September 10 and 11 in Belgium, London and Monaco.
Two people were charged this month, the former general manager of the Anderlecht football club, Herman Van Holsbeeck, and Henrotay's main associate in Belgium, Christophe Cheniaux.
Both are suspected of "private corruption, money laundering, forgery and the use of forgeries and criminal associations."
Van Holsbeeck, 64, was for 15 years one of Anderlecht's most senior executives before being fired in April 2018 after billionaire Marc Coucke bought the club at the end of 2017.
Belgian media reported that Van Holsbeeck received illegal payments in several transfers.
In addition to the Mitrovic deals, local media pointed to the 26 euro million sale of Youri Tielemans, another Belgian international, by Anderlecht to AS Monaco in 2017.
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