Club Scammed During Robert Lewandowski’s Transfer in 2022
Barcelona reportedly became the victim of fraud during the transfer of Polish striker Robert Lewandowski from Bayern Munich in the summer of 2022.
The Spanish club was tricked into sending €1 million (£830,000) to a fraudster who pretended to represent Lewandowski’s agent, Pini Zahavi.
Fraudulent Payment Requested to Fake Lawyer’s Account
Barcelona signed Lewandowski for an initial €45 million (£37 million). While processing the transfer, the club received an email claiming to be from Zahavi. This email instructed the club to pay a €1 million agent commission into a bank account supposedly linked to a lawyer instead of Zahavi himself.
The fraudster further requested two additional transfers of €250,000 (£208,000)
Suspicious Bank Account Raises Alarms
Barcelona transferred the amount into a Bank of Cyprus account, but the payment was soon flagged as suspicious since the account had only recently been opened. The funds were frozen, triggering concern within the club.
The scammer then sent another email urging Barcelona to lobby the bank to release the funds, threatening to report the club to FIFA if they failed to act.
Barcelona Exposes the Fraud and Recovers the Funds
The scam was uncovered after the Bank of Cyprus contacted the club. Following further investigation, officials determined the bank account was unrelated to Zahavi.
Barcelona later confirmed that they were deceived but managed to recover the stolen funds. Zahavi revealed that one month after the transfer, Barcelona reached out to ask if he had received the payment. The agent denied any connection to the lawyer or the email in question.
Lewandowski has since proved to be a valuable asset for Barcelona, scoring 71 goals in 106 matches. However, this incident underscores the challenges clubs face in handling multi-million transfers and the importance of verifying communication in high-stakes transactions.
