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BARCELONA. — Barcelona’s former president, Josep Maria Bartomeu, was arrested yesterday as part of a police investigation into a scandal, which could have far-reaching consequences on the club, which the Spanish media dubbed Barcagate.

Bartomeu’s advisor, Jaume Masferrer, club chief executive, Óscar Grau, and the head of legal services, Román Gómez Ponti, were also arrested.

Catalan police have entered the Camp Nou to seize documentation, as part of an investigation, into an alleged misuse of funds and corruption.

Bartomeu, on the advice of his lawyers, kept silent at the Les Corts police station, last night.

Masferrer and Ponti also kept their silence.

Barcelona presidential candidate, Victor Font, said it was a very sad day for the Catalan giants.

“Today is a sad day for Barça. This seriously damages the image of the club so it is essential to make a more transparent club,” Font said.

The arrests are part of a case put together by the investigating judge relating to Barcelona’s hiring of a social monitoring company, I3 Ventures.

Using a series of companies, I3 Ventures had been accused of setting up websites, and social media accounts, which wrote stories defending the president, and damaging the reputations of opposition figures, and even some players and former players.

Barcelona were alleged to have over-paid for the services, which they were alleged to have done in a series of smaller instalments, which did not require authorisation by the board or trigger internal controls.

In total, payments to the company are alleged to have added up to €1,107,500 in 2017-18 with a contract signed for the next two seasons worth €947,700.

The services were stopped after the story broke, it is claimed.

In each case, the payments made were reportedly under the €200,000 threshold that triggers internal checks.

Barcelona denied any wrongdoing and I3 ventures insisted the accounts publishing negative stories were not theirs.

An internal audit carried out on the club’s behalf by PricewaterhouseCoopers cleared them of corruption or defamation, prompting the club to demand that media who had made “defamatory accusations” to “rectify” reports.

But, the police operation continued, led by the investigating magistrate, Ariadna Gil.

FC Barcelona confirmed that officers from the Mossos d’Escuadra’s Economic Offences Unit were at the stadium yesterday and promised full cooperation.

“Regarding the entry and search by the Catalan Police force this morning at the Camp Nou offices by order of the Instructing Court number 13 in Barcelona, which is in charge of the case relating to the contacting of monitoring services on social networks, FC Barcelona have offered up their full collaboration to the legal and police authorities to help make clear facts which are subject to investigation,’’ the club said in a statement.

“The information and documentation requested by the judicial police force relate strictly to the facts relative to this case.

“FC Barcelona express its utmost respect for the judicial process in place and for the principle of presumed innocence for the people affected within the remit of this investigation.’’

This is the second time the authorities have seized documentation at the stadium.

Although investigators had initially only requested the gathering of documentation, police said they had made arrests.

Cadena SER radio, which uncovered the initial case that prompted the investigation, reported the four men had been arrested on suspicion of “unfair administration, corruption between individuals and money laundering.”

Bartomeu, who was forced to resign as president of Barcelona in October, was arrested at his home.

The arrests come in the build up to presidential elections on Sunday, with three candidates competing to run the club: Joan Laporta, Víctor Font and Toni Freixa.

More than €800m in debt, Barcelona are faced with a financial and institutional crisis.

In April, six board members resigned over the way the club was being run not long after the first story broke.

That included Emili Rousaud, who Bartomeu appeared to be preparing to be a continuity candidate at forthcoming elections.

In an interview with RAC1 radio station, Rousaud was highly critical of the way the club was being run.

In June, Barcelona suspended their compliance officer, Noemi Romero, who was responsible for leading an internal investigation.

They employed PwC to carry out an audit.

The report, released in the summer, concluded there was no corruption and that what they had paid for social monitoring services was not out of line with market prices.

“We have not found any indication that any instructions [for online content] were made by the directors of the club,” the report said.

“FC Barcelona did not order a campaign of defamation against anyone. There was no corrupt conduct. We have found no evidence to suggest that anyone from the board of directors has directly benefited economically as a result of the contacts.”

The report did raise doubts about the way payments for the services were made, referring to a failure to follow protocol.

Police judged an investigation commissioned by the club could not be considered conclusive and continued to pursue the case, leading to arrests yesterday. – The Guardian/AS