Barcelona targeted by agent-commission scam in Robert Lewandowski transfer

Journalists investigating Robert Lewandowski’s transfer to Barcelona say the LaLiga club were the target of a scam involving what the Catalans were led to believe were payments to the striker’s agent, Pini Zahavi.

The story was uncovered in a joint probe by the Spanish radio station SER Catalunya, the German investigative newsroom Paper Trail Media (PTM), and the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), a global body of investigative journalists.

How much did ‘Zahavi’ ask Barcelona to pay?

According to this three-way alliance of investigators, the scam occurred in summer 2022, when Barça signed Lewandowski from Bayern Munich for a fee of €45 million ($48 million) plus €5 million ($5.4 million) in incentivised add-ons.

At the end of July 2022, several Barça directors received an email purporting to be from Zahavi, from an address that bore the super-agent’s name. In the email, club bosses were asked to pay part of Zahavi‘s commission for the transfer into a Bank of Cyprus account not in the Israeli’s name. The email asked for €1 million ($1.1 million), and gave the details of the account, whose holder was named as Michael Gerardus Hermanus Demon, described as a lawyer.

According to SER, PTM and OCCRP, Barça paid the requested transfer into the account, but - per Cypriot sources - the bank’s compliance department blocked the transfer as it was considered “high risk”. This is because there had been no prior movements in the account, which had been opened that same month, and no documentation had been submitted justifying the payment.

Someone claiming to be Zahavi then contacted the bank on several occasions to demand the payment be unblocked, but staff at the financial institution could not be persuaded. According to several sources consulted by the team of investigative journalists, ‘Zahavi’ also sent emails to Barça threatening to report the club to UEFA, European soccer’s governing body. The individual or individuals posing as the agent also told the club they would seek to prevent the club from registering Lewandowski if they did not receive the commission.

Barcelona say they did not lose any money

Barça have confirmed that they were targeted by an apparent scam, but that it was unsuccessful and the club was not left out of pocket. The Catalans acknowledge that in July 2022 they received emails asking for €1 million as part of a commission for the transfer of Lewandowski, and that in 2023 they received two more, each requesting a €250,000 ($270,000) payment.

Barça have explained that they reported their case to the Mossos d’Esquadra, Catalonia’s autonomous police force, and strengthened their scam-avoidance protocols. However, the Mossos d’Esquadra told the investigative team that they did not open a probe into the case at any time, as no formal complaint was filed.

Per SER, PTM and OCCRP, Zahavi says he does not know a Michael Hermanus Gerardus Demon. He adds that, a month after Lewandowski’s transfer to Barcelona, the club asked him whether he had asked for €1 million to be paid into an account in Cyprus, as part of his commission. According to Lewandowski’s contract with Barça, the 36-year-old should be paid €104 million ($112 million) across four seasons, of which 10% goes to his representatives.

Zahavi has explained that he alerted the club to the fact that he had not sent any such payment-request email. He says he did not report the matter to the police as he decided to leave that up to Barça.

Cypriot account holder says identity stolen

The investigative team has found and got in touch with Michael Hermanus Gerardus Demon. There is no record of his being a certified lawyer in any country in Europe. He lives in Arnhem, a city in the Netherlands, and is 51. On social media, he has a photo of the Camp Nou, Barça’s home stadium.

He insists that he has been a victim of identity theft, and that an account was opened in his name at the Bank of Cyprus without his knowledge.

However, officials at the bank have defended the institution’s anti-identity-theft protocols, telling SER, PTM and OCCRP that they consider it “impossible” for someone to open an account with stolen identity documents.