Fraudster impersonates Lewandowski’s agent to scam Barcelona £1m

In a dramatic case of attempted fraud, FC Barcelona nearly lost £1 million after a scammer impersonated Pini Zahavi, the agent responsible for facilitating Robert Lewandowski’s transfer to the club.

This was revealed in a report released on Thursday by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), following an investigation in collaboration with Cadena Ser, Der Standard, and other investigative partners.

The incident began in July 2022, shortly after FC Barcelona signed Polish striker Lewandowski from Bayern Munich in a high-profile deal worth 45 million euros.

Just 10 days after the transfer, the club received an email that appeared to be from Zahavi, requesting a one million euro payment to a bank account in Cyprus. The email specified that the funds were to be sent to an account in the name of Michael Gerardus Hermanus Demon, identified as a lawyer.

Barcelona initiated the payment despite red flags, including the email’s unfamiliar address and the request for payment to a different recipient. The payment came to light in the spring of 2023 when Que t’hi jugues, a radio show focused on FC Barcelona, obtained a copy of the email and shared it with OCCRP and its investigative partners.

Four sources, including three with insider knowledge of FC Barcelona, confirmed that the club had proceeded with the transfer before the Bank of Cyprus flagged it as suspicious. A compliance officer at the bank blocked the transaction, citing concerns over the legitimacy of the account.

The account holder, Demon, claimed his identity had been stolen and denied any knowledge of the account or involvement in the payment request.

He stated that he did not possess a bank account in Cyprus, saying, “I don’t know anything about this and I don’t have a bank account in Cyprus. Unfortunately, I was a victim of ID fraud. ID was stolen/lost sometime in 2022.”

Zahavi later confirmed he was unaware of the payment request and that a fake email had been sent in his name to defraud the club. He credited a Barcelona director for promptly reaching out to him for verification, which helped prevent the completion of the fraudulent payment.

FC Barcelona acknowledged the incident but did not file a formal complaint with the Catalan police.

A club spokesperson informed OCCRP that no money was lost, as the transaction was blocked in time. The Bank of Cyprus defended its customer-verification process, asserting that it thoroughly validates the authenticity of documents used to open accounts.

This incident is not isolated; in 2018, Italy’s Lazio fell victim to an email scam, paying two million euros to fraudsters who impersonated the Dutch club Feyenoord during the transfer of defender Stefan de Vrij. Kieran Maguire, the English author of “The Price of Football: Understanding Football Club Finance,” commented on the prevalence of such scams, noting the vast sums involved and the number of individuals seeking a share of the money, asserting that “a small slice is still a lot of money.”