Police raids are being carried out in Barcelona, and the main reason behind the police being so involved is because of financial crimes conducted on behalf of the Barcagate scandal reportedly being conducted by Josep Maria Bartomeu and his staff.
Former Barcelona CEO Oscar Grau, who was at the post under former Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu, has reportedly been arrested by the police during their raids conducted only six days ahead of the Barcelona Presidential elections.
“We are in the process of carrying out an operation right now with agents of the financial crimes unit,” the police spokesman told AFP.
According to the latest reports coming out of Spain, Bartomeu himself is also on the list of people arrested, alongside former Director of Legal Services Roma Gomez Ponti and Grau.
The Barcagate scandal saw club officials being accused of conducting “smear campaigns” against the players and the coaches of the club. This was one of the few different instances of corruption that the former President was accused of. Plunging the club into a debt worth a billion Euros is also one of the reasons that legal action might have been taken against Bartomeu.
“Arrests are taking place but we cannot give names. We are in the process of carrying out an operation at the moment with agents from the financial crimes unit,” said a spokesman of the police to ESPN.
The news has been confirmed by Spanish media outlets RAC1 and Cadena CER and more reports are set to follow.
