Cádiz CF footballer Lucas Pérez has been the victim of a scam after the two perpetrators gave him 340,000 euros in counterfeit bills for his vehicle, luxury watches and various jewelry, in a method known as ‘rip deal’.
The National Police reported this Tuesday on the arrest of two men for swindling 340,000 euros from a person who wanted to sell his car and a series of luxury items, and according to Radio Marca and investigation sources have confirmed to EFE, the footballer would be the victim of this event.
With an extensive career in the First Division in teams such as Deportivo de la Coruña or Alavés, Pérez is a 37-year-old player for the Cádiz Football Club. At international level, Pérez enjoyed two spells in the English Premier League, at Arsenal and West Ham United, and a brief stay in the Dutch Eredivisie in 2025, in the ranks of PSV Eindhoven.
The investigations began last February when the footballer went to the police station to file a complaint about the events that occurred. He explained that he had placed an advertisement with his vehicle and a series of luxury items that he owned and wanted to sell. Finally, he agreed to the sale with some people interested in acquiring these objects, and they organized a meeting to discuss the terms of the sale.
A second meeting was where the payment of the agreed money and the exchange of said valuable objects took place: four luxury watches, three gold and diamond rings and nine items of clothing.
The total paid amounted to 340,000 euros, of which 180,000 corresponded to valuable objects and 160,000 as a first payment for the vehicle. The money was delivered in cash and in a bag and was counted in the presence of the victim with a bill counting machine. But once at his home, Lucas Pérez went to check what he had paid and discovered that the money delivered were fraudulent bills and only three 100-euro bills were authentic.
The agents managed to identify the perpetrators of the scam, two men who were located in a hotel where they were staying in Madrid. At the time of their arrest they were carrying 50,000 euros of cash among their belongings, the origin of which they could not specify.
Due to all these events, on March 12 they were arrested as alleged perpetrators of a crime of fraud and were subsequently placed at the disposal of the judicial authority.
