A.S. Roma S.p.A. is a professional football club based in Rome, Italy. Founded in 1927, AS Roma was listed on the Italian stock exchange (Borsa Italiana, Milan) until September 14, 2022.

On April 22, 2024, the Public Prosecutors at the Tribunal of Rome concluded a criminal investigation into alleged financial irregularities in A.S. Roma’s financials from 2017 onwards. The investigation led to serious allegations to the company and its executives and related to false corporate communications and market manipulation, specifically linked to misleading corporate disclosures and financial misstatements.

Following this, on January 27, 2025, the Rome Public Prosecutor’s Office formally requested the indictment of several of Roma’s former managers and AS Roma itself, as administratively responsible under Italian corporate criminal liability law (D.Lgs 231/2001). The Consob, Italy’s Financial Markets Supervisory Authority, has been officially recognized as the "injured party", reinforcing the severity of the case.

Regulatory and Criminal Findings

The investigation found that AS Roma engaged in:

• False corporate communications (Art. 2622 Italian Civil Code), "Knowingly presenting false material facts or omitting relevant information required by law"* and thus misleading investors regarding the financial health of the company.

• Market manipulation (Art. 185 D.Lgs 58/1998 – Italian Consolidated Finance Act), "Spreading false information that was concretely capable of significantly altering the price of financial instruments" (courtesy translation), particularly regarding player transfers amounts, related capital gains, and thus relevant balance sheet components.

• Accounting fraud – Violations of International Accounting Standards (“IAS”) No. 38 (“Intangible Assets”), for incorrect valuation of player exchange deals, misrepresenting the financial position of the company.

• Corporate criminal liability (D.Lgs 231/2001, Arts. 5, 21, 25-ter (b), and 25-sexies), having A.S. Roma failed to implement adequate compliance frameworks, thus allowing its former managers’ financial misconducts. In this sense, the Rome Public Prosecutor wrote that the Company is "[...] liable for offences pursuant to articles 5, 21, 25 ter lett. b) and 25sexies of Legislative Decree 231/2001 with reference to the offences referred to in art. 2622 of the Italian Civil Code, [...] and referred to in art.185 of Legislative Decree 58/1998 [...] committed by the suspects indicated therein in the aforementioned capacities and to be understood as fully referenced - having failed to prepare, prior to the commission of the aforementioned crimes, organisation and management models capable of preventing crimes of the same kind as those that occurred, thus making it possible for the suspects to commit the offences in the interest and to the advantage of the company A.S. ROMA S.p.A.”*

Key Aspects Under Investigation

The indictment relates to a series of purchases, sales and/or exchanges of A.S. Roma’s players that resulted in the misrepresentation of transactions in the Company's financial statements and undue benefits to the Company, including the effect of artificially inflating the share price on the market. During this period, the Company also successfully completed a capital increase, raising substantial amounts from investors.

The Prosecutor’s Office has identified multiple player transactions that allegedly violated financial reporting standards:

• Mr. Defrel, Mr. Marchizza, Mr. Frattesi (2017–2020) with the charge of misrepresentation of capital gains and amortization values.

• Mr. Nainggolan, Mr. Zaniolo, Mr. Santon (2018–2020) with the charge of artificial inflation of book values in financial reports.

• Mr. Cristante, Mr. Tumminello (2018–2020) with the charge of Overstatement of acquisition value for Cristante and understatement for Tumminello.

• Mr. Spinazzola, Mr. Pellegrini (2019–2020) with the charge of Manipulation of reported transfer values.

• Mr. Manolas, Mr. Diawara (2019–2020) with the charge of distortion of financial statements through misreported player valuations.

Our Proposal

Martingale Risk is offering support to investors who suffered financial losses due to the purchase of AS Roma S.p.A. equities. The initiative, which will take place in Italy, will envisage a negotiation with A.S. Roma S.p.A. and/or the participation of the clients as civil parties in the potential penal trial that will follow before the Tribunal of Rome, as well as participation to a civil proceeding.  We will be operating on a full contingent fee basis of the recovered amount, with no anticipated costs, fees or expenses for the clients.

*Courtesy translation

A.S. Roma S.p.A. Equity, 2017-2022.

Securities Identifiers

Relevant Period for Transaction Data