A Spanish court has launched an investigation into six well-known footballers suspected of participating in a cryptocurrency scam. The case revolves around the NFT project Shirtum, which they promoted. After the platform vanished, investors were left with worthless tokens.
According to Spanish outlet El Periodico, the estimated losses amount to at least $3.4 million. The victims have filed a class-action lawsuit, which also names businessmen from Spain and Argentina.
NFT Platform Disappears With Investor Funds
The case was opened by the Fifth District Court of Barcelona following a complaint from 12 victims. At the center is Shirtum Europa SLU, a company that offered NFT collections supposedly tied to image rights of famous footballers. Investors bought these using the $SHI token (currently valued at $0.0002578), which quickly lost value. The platform, which had promised trading features and token support, never launched.
Prominent Athletes Named in the Complaint
Among those named in the complaint are World Cup winners Alejandro "Papu" Gómez and Lucas Ocampos, former FC Barcelona players Ivan Rakitić and Javier Saviola, as well as Nico Pareja and Alberto Moreno. All were publicly involved in promoting the project, branding themselves as "founders" or ambassadors. Later, according to investigators, the athletes removed all references to Shirtum from their social media profiles.
Platform Creators Concealed Business Structure
The main suspects include Argentine national David Rozencwaig and Catalan businessmen Manel Ángel Torras, his son Marc Alberto Torras, and Manuel Morillas. Experts believe they built a complex corporate structure across Spain and Andorra to avoid taxes and personal liability.
Thirteen expert reports have been submitted to the case, including an economic analysis by Professor Prosper Lamothe, who described the company’s structure as deliberately opaque and designed to evade taxation.
Technology and Tokens Existed Only on Paper
Shirtum’s NFTs were marketed as exclusive digital assets, some priced at over $513. However, a fully functional platform for token exchange was never released. The company claimed it was hit by two major hacks in March 2022, but investigators found no official police reports filed.
Instead of developing the project, investigators allege that investor funds were redirected for personal use by the organizers. Shirtum effectively ceased operations, and the athletes who had publicly endorsed the platform stopped mentioning it altogether.
According to press reports, “Papu” Gómez had close personal ties with organizer David Rozencwaig and actively brought other footballers into the project. His role in promoting Shirtum is one of the key aspects of the investigation.
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