Barcelona accused of tax fraud with €10m payment.
Spanish giants Barcelona accused of tax fraud
Barcelona’s 2018 move for Malcom has come back to haunt them. Reports in Spain claim the club made illegal €10m payments to a firm called Business Futbol Espana during the move. Officials believe these payments are linked to “fake” services that may never have existed in real life.
The police and financial officials are now looking deeply into the matter. They are looking at whether Barca made these payments to mask tax liabilities from the €42m signing deal with Bordeaux.
Officials claim Barca moved the money to reduce the tax burden on the transfer. The club routed part of the player’s income through the intermediary instead of reporting the full amount directly. That adjustment supposedly reduced Barca’s declared tax obligations. Officials are looking at former club president Josep Maria Bartomeu and several members for giving the green light for making these transactions.
🚨 | Update on Bartomeu's embezzlement case:
Barcelona police have submitted new documents to the court revealing that former club president Josep Maria Bartomeu hired an entity called Business Football España for the signing of Malcom, with a 10M commission paid
The report… pic.twitter.com/HEhRJwXhwp
— Blaugranagram (@Blaugranagram) October 7, 2025
Suspicious paperwork
Police reports reveal that the original contract with Malcom included a €10m payment spread over three years. Later, the club allegedly changed the deal. They showed €1.5m paid directly and €8.4m routed through the same firm. Officials say this tweak was done to remove a big amount of income tax that should have been withheld.
To make matters worse, officers found a second agreement between Barca and the same company. The dates were changed to make it look legal and correct. Out of 12 invoices, nine are looking questionable as fake or unrelated to real services. This is possibly totaling €740,000 in false billing.
While the case is ongoing, current president Joan Laporta’s team has already moved to work on the club’s taxes. They are hoping to distance the current board from Bartomeu’s era.
Author’s Opinion:
Barca’s drama just won’t end. The real question is how much longer Barca can keep playing financial defense before it hits them where it hurts most, on the pitch.
