Sevilla Footballers Accused in $28M Crypto Scam

A Barcelona court is investigating six former Sevilla FC football players, including Papu Gómez, Lucas Ocampos, and Ivan Rakitić, for their alleged role in a crypto scheme that sold fake NFTs and a manipulated token to investors, costing them over €24 million or $28 million [1]. The scheme, operated by Shirtum Europa, S.L.U., and other companies in Andorra, advertised itself as a platform to buy and sell digital football collectibles, selling "filmic NFTs" with pictures and voice recordings of the accused players for about €450 each.

The complaint, filed by 13 Spanish investors who claim to have lost all of their money, alleges that these NFTs were never actually created on any blockchain and were an absolute simulation of the product sold [1]. Investigators could not find any proof that the tokens were on-chain, and the company's annual accounts did not show the money made from NFT sales, which was about €1 million. Before the NFT sales, Shirtum's promoters received approximately €3 million in BNB tokens from investors to develop a mobile app, which was never made, and the money was never returned or accounted for [1].

The scheme also involved Shirtum's own crypto, $SHI, which was allegedly manipulated by the accused footballers and promoters, who received 78% of the one billion tokens created for free [1]. They then sold those tokens to retail investors on PancakeSwap for inflated prices, using false advertising and creating fear of missing out (FOMO) to drive sales. The $SHI token is now trading at $0.00003329 and is essentially worthless, according to CoinGecko [1]. The complaint alleges that the accused permanently removed $SHI's liquidity from PancakeSwap in July 2025, while a criminal investigation was already underway, causing the token's price to fall [1].

The investigation, led by Barcelona's Court of Instruction No. 5, is ongoing, and the Spanish police have already started their own investigation into Shirtum [1]. The new complaint adds claims of token manipulation to the original NFT fraud claims, which could lead to additional charges [1]. With total damages potentially exceeding $28 million, the case highlights the risks of crypto scams and the importance of due diligence for investors. The outcome of the investigation will determine the fate of the accused footballers and the recovery of losses for the affected investors.