State lawyer who pursued Messi was a Real Madrid director
The judgement of Leo Messi and his father, and the subsequent sentence of a 21 month suspended jail term for each individual, for three tax crimes between the years 2009 and 2011, has an interesting name attached to it.
The leading role exercised throughout the process by state lawyer Maria Silva Lapiedra, has caused controversy due to her past ties to Real Madrid.
While the district attorney did not consider there to be motives to accuse the Argentine footballer, the state lawyer's office became the only party that requested a punishment for the player, despite his declarations that he was not aware of any of the deals that were taking place with his money.
Maria Silva Lapiedra is the head of the State's judicial services, that is to say, she is responsible for deciding if the State personally pursues a case as an accuser, as they did in the Messi case.
Curiously, the same person who decided that Leo Messi should sit in the dock, did not come to the same conclusion regarding the Princess Cristina in the 'Noos Case', as she felt that the sister of the King of Spain was not aware of the actions of her husband.
So the same argument was interpreted in two different ways by Maria Silva. The state lawyer was implacable in the judgement of Barça stars Messi and Neymar, and a lot more lenient on other fronts.
But perhaps her decisions were not coincidental, given the Real Madrid connection of her past.
Daughter of a former pro-Franco minister, Silva was a Real Madrid director, and a person that earned the complete trust of Florentino Perez, between the years 2000 and 2006. Later, she also earned a top role, with the help of Florentino, in the construction company Sacyr, between 2003 and 2009.
It is also curious that, in the 'Barcenas papers' corruption scandal, there were payments from the same construction company to the treasury of the 'PP' right-wing party, during the years that Silva worked at Sacyr.
Despite this, the state lawyer's office decided against pursuing the case.
Another image that harmed the credibility of Silva occurred in March 2014, with the Neymar case already being looked into, when Florentino Perez invited the state lawyer to the directors box of the Santiago Bernabeu to attend the 'clasico' against FC Barcelona.
