According to a new criminal complaint filed in Barcelona, Spanish courts are investigating six former Sevilla FC players for their alleged involvement in a cryptocurrency scheme. The scheme is accused of selling fake NFTs and manipulated tokens to investors, resulting in losses exceeding €24 million (approximately $28 million).
The players mentioned in the complaint include Papu Gómez, Lucas Ocampos, Ivan Rakitić, Nico Pareja, Alberto Moreno, and Javier Saviola. According to reports from El Correo de Andalucía, two additional players, Diego Perotti and Marcelo Guedes, also participated in promoting the project.
Thirteen investors from Spain have filed a complaint with the Barcelona No. 5 Preliminary Court, claiming they lost all their funds.
Shirtum Failed to Deliver Movie NFTs
Shirtum Europa, S.L.U. and other companies based in Andorra are responsible for operating the project, claiming to be a marketplace for buying and selling digital football collectibles. It sold “movie NFTs” featuring images and recordings of the accused players for around €450.
The complainants stated that these NFTs were never actually created on any blockchain. The complaint pointed out that these assets could not be sold or transferred, thus representing a complete simulation of a product sale.
“These so-called NFTs do not technically exist, cannot be transferred or resold, and are essentially a complete simulation of the sales object, causing harm to buyers,” the complaint stated.
Investigators have failed to find any evidence proving that these tokens existed on-chain.
The company’s annual financial statements also did not show any revenue of approximately €1 million from NFT sales.
$SHI Token and Its Manipulation Allegations
The fraud case has another layer involving Shirtum's own cryptocurrency, $SHI.
The complainants allege that the defendants used false advertising and collaborated with these football players to create FOMO (fear of missing out) to entice people to buy.
The complaint noted that in July 2025, despite the criminal investigation being underway, the defendants permanently removed the liquidity of $SHI from PancakeSwap.
The token's price subsequently plummeted and is no longer traded on any exchanges. According to CoinGecko, the trading price of $SHI is $0.00003329, nearly worthless.
Investors believe that the price trend of the $SHI token follows a “pump and dump” pattern. They estimate that losses solely from token manipulation could reach at least €20 million, with the final figure potentially being higher.
The Barcelona No. 5 Preliminary Court is still investigating the case, and Spanish police have begun an independent investigation into Shirtum.
The new complaint adds allegations of token manipulation to the original NFT fraud charges, indicating that more charges may be forthcoming.