Have YOU got a story? Email Sam.Lawley@dailymail.co.uk
A Premier League footballer has allegedly been swindled out of more than £800,000 - as police launch a manhunt for his accused fraudster.
Maurice Gomes, 31, is said to have taken money out of the Coutts account of Tottenham midfielder Yves Bissouma, 29, during a 21-month campaign of scamming.
He is alleged to have 'dishonestly' transferred Bissouma's cash to himself without the Premier League star's 'knowledge or consent' between September 2022 and June 2024.
Prosecutor Rivka Shabtay said Gomes was behind the illicit bank transfers totalling £834,334.40 'to make a personal gain'.
Gomes, who lives in a £1.4million, six-bedroom house in Enfield, north London, failed to appear at Highbury Corner magistrates' court on Friday.
Ms Shabtay added: 'A postal requisition was sent to the defendant, a certification of service dated October 10, 2025. We ask for a warrant to be issued.'
The alleged fraudster is charged with two counts of fraud by false representation, with Bissouma the alleged victim in both cases.
Magistrate Victoria Woolfson said: 'A warrant is approved. That is the end of the hearing.'
Gomes's link to Bissouma, who is believed to be on at least £50,000 a week at Spurs, is not known and it is unclear how he could have accessed his account.
He was first arrested more than a year ago after the Tottenham star reported the discrepancies in his account.
The midfielder will likely have to give evidence at court.
Bissouma, who was bought from Brighton for £30million in 2022, is not the only Spurs player to have had a tough time off the pitch in recent weeks, after his team-mate Destiny Udogie was allegedly threatened with a gun in north London.
The Metropolitan Police launched an investigation after the incident involving the Italian left-back on September 6, while the club said on Tuesday it was providing support to Udogie and his family.
A 31-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of possession of firearms with intent, blackmail and driving without a licence following the incident. He has been bailed while inquiries continue, the force said.
Udogie was named by Italian media on Tuesday as the Premier League player involved in the incident, with the 22-year-old still producing an impressive display in the 4-0 win over Copenhagen in the Champions League later that night.
Ahead of Saturday's clash with Manchester United, manager Thomas Frank said everyone at Tottenham had rallied around Udogie.
'It is a terrible situation to have been in and I can't speak too much about it as it's a legal case, as we know, but the club and we have done everything we can to support him,' he said.
'We'll do that and he's clearly doing well on the pitch, which is good and we'll keep supporting him.'
Bissouma was one of the stars of Spurs' Europa League-winning run last season but has been frozen out of new manager Thomas Frank's plans this campaign.
The midfielder has not featured once for the north London side so far in 2025-2026 after persistently turning up late for training over the summer.
And he suffered another blow last month after he was carried off on a stretcher just nine seconds into his first outing of the season - during a substitute appearance for Mali against Madagascar in their 4-1 World Cup qualifying win.
He was brought on in the 67th minute with Mali 3-0 up but was hacked down just nine seconds after play resumed, leaving him writhing on the floor in pain. He tried to get up to walk off the pitch independently but was unable to.