On 20 February, Barcelona and Bartomeu were charged with tax fraud, and paid a "voluntary" amount of €13.6 million in the same week in an attempt to save the image of the club. Barcelona continued to defend their actions, releasing a statement stating that the club's "dealings with respect to this operation, and in light of all information available, was at all times in line with the relevant legal legislation", while Neymar defended his father's rights to the money he received as part of the deal. Bartomeu, who had been appointed club president following Rosell's resignation, reiterated the belief of himself and the club that the deal was fair and praised the transparency of the club to reveal all the details. The tax charges which had been brought against Bartomeu were dropped in September.