Former Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu, his adviser Jaume Masferrer, club chief executive Oscar Grau and legal services chief Roman Gomez Ponti have been arrested following a raid on Monday at the club’s offices , confirmed the source to ESPN.
A local police spokesman also confirmed to ESPN that “arrests are taking place, but we can not give names. We are currently conducting an operation with agents of the Financial Crime Unit.”
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Police arrived at Barca’s offices to search for evidence in connection with the “Barcagate” scandal on social media and later made the arrests.
It has been one year since it was alleged that Barca paid a third-party company under Bartomeu at the time to smear former players, current players and presidential candidates on social media.
Barca vehemently denied the allegations and revoked their contract with I3 Ventures, the company behind the social media accounts.
An external audit by PricewaterhouseCoopers later cleared the Catalan club of any breach and also found that Barca had not paid a high price for a number of services with I3, freeing the club from financial corruption.
However, police are continuing to investigate the case after opening their own investigation last year. They first raided the club’s Camp Nou offices last June in search of documents regarding the allegations.
On Monday, club workers were asked to leave the building when police returned and sought more evidence to aid their investigation.
Bartomeu, meanwhile, has resigned, although his resignation is not linked to the “Barcagate” scandal, and the club will elect a new president on March 7. Carles Tusquets fulfills the role on an interim basis.
The allegations were first made by a local radio station last February. Evidence has been revealed that I3, in addition to defending Bartomeu, was behind a number of Facebook accounts that attacked people with the club, including players Lionel Messi, Gerard Pique, former captain Xavi Hernandez, former manager Pep Guardiola and presidential president. candidates Victor Font and Agusti Benedito.
Bartomeu and Barca immediately revoked the contract with I3 and denied all knowledge of the accounts. Bartomeu’s adviser Masferrer was later suspended after being held responsible for the club’s relationship with I3.
However, Masferrer later returned to his role with Bartomeu, and no further action was taken after the publication of the external audit by PricewaterhouseCoopers.