The Liège business court has set June 21 as the date for delivering its judgment in the case between Bruno Venanzi and Standard de Liège. Bruno Venanzi is demanding repayment of a loan that Standard did not honor on the agreed deadlines, while Standard is demanding a stay of proceedings pending the results of criminal proceedings.
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The Liège business court is seized of a debt recovery act from Bruno Venanzi who demands the repayment of a loan (in reality five loans) to Standard de Liège. In 2022, Bruno Venanzi sold 99.3 percent of the shares of Standard de Liège to 777 SDL (company belonging to 777 Partners). He had concluded a loan agreement obliging Standard de Liège to repay on specific dates. These deadlines were not respected and Bruno Venanzi is asking the company court to order Standard de Liège to reimburse him. The amount concerned amounts to 2.75M euros, plus interest of 250,000, for a total of 3M€
Standard de Liège does not wish to make this reimbursement, because it considers that Bruno Venanzi is criminally liable for having committed errors during his mandate at the head of Standard de Liège. The Standard is under investigation for forgery, money laundering and corruption. He considers himself damaged by more than 4,800,000 euros. “The risk is to consider Standard as a debtor to Bruno Venanzi, when it is in reality a creditor,” indicated the club’s lawyers during their pleadings.
In the criminal proceedings mentioned by the Standard, Bruno Venanzi would have benefited from a plea bargain. An agreement was also reached between the tax authorities and Standard on a reimbursement of 2,215,000 euros. “Bruno Venanzi was part of a huge fraud system and played a key role in it,” added the Standard’s lawyers, who maintain that their final damage could be very high.
While Bruno Venanzi demands the repayment of his loans, because the hope of future compensation must not weigh in the court’s decision, the defense of Standard calls for a stay of ruling pending the end of the criminal proceedings .
The judgment will be pronounced on June 21.
