Ex-Barcelona players among six La Liga stars accused of €3m cryptocurrency fraud scheme with investigation underway

Six La Liga players are currently being investigated over their role in a €3m cryptocurrency and NFT scam, according to El Periodico. Rakitic and Saviola stand accused along with Nico Pareja, Alejandro Papu Gomez, Lucas Ocampos and Alberto Moreno.

Twelve people have filed a complaint against the Shirtum Europa company and claim to have lost "significant amounts of money" after investing in the scheme which "promised great profits". The report states the players all allowed their image to be used for the project and also supported it with posts on their social media channels. However, the indication is that the players were unaware of the fraudulent nature of the project.

Rozencwaig, Manel Angel Torras, Marc Alberto Torras and Manuel Morillas are named as the businesspeople involved in the scan. They allegedly created an app and their own cryptocurrency and planned to sell NFTs of the footballers involved at €450 each. The funds were received from the 12 complainants but the project never went ahead and the businessmen promptly disappeared.

The investigation is set to continue with charges of fraud, misappropriation, asset stripping, tax fraud, and money laundering being considered in relation to the businesspeople involved.