World Cup champion Papu Gomez and 6 other players involved in a $3.4 million cryptocurrency scam

ChainCatcher news, according to Decrypt, the Fifth District Court of Barcelona is investigating a cryptocurrency fraud case involving professional football players. The company involved, Shirtum, is accused of defrauding investors of at least $3.4 million through an NFT project endorsed by star players. The six players involved include World Cup champion Papu Gómez, Lucas Ocampos, former Barcelona players Ivan Rakitić and Javier Saviola, as well as Nico Pareja and Alberto Moreno.

Prosecutor documents show that this Spanish-Argentine joint venture evaded taxes through a complex corporate structure, and the player image rights NFTs they sold never realized trading functionality. After the players participated as "founders" in the promotion, relevant social media evidence was systematically deleted. In March 2022, the company claimed to have suffered a hacking attack but did not file a police report, and subsequently, the platform quietly shut down.