Real Madrid defender accused of tax fraud
Marcelo Da Silva Junior #12 of Real Madrid (left) and Timothy Fosu-Mensah #24 of Manchester United vie for their ball during the International Champions Cup match at Levi's Stadium on July 23, 2017 in Santa Clara, California. PHOTO | EZRA SHAW |
What you need to know:
- Barcelona duo Lionel Messi and Javier Mascherano received 21-month and one-year suspended sentences respectively after being found guilty of tax fraud over their image rights in 2016.
- Five-time World Player of the Year Messi's sentence was later replaced by a 252,000 euro (Sh30 million) fine.
MADRID
Spanish prosecutors have accused Real Madrid's Brazilian left-back Marcelo of tax fraud totalling nearly half a million euros, a judicial source confirmed on Tuesday.
The tax authorities believe Marcelo hid 490,917 euros ($578,000, Sh58 million) earned from his image rights using a network of shell companies outside of Spain.
According to court documents, Marcelo earned 1,168,764 euros (Sh141 million) from his image rights in 2013, which were ceded to a Uruguayan company but should have been declared to the Spanish authorities.
Marcelo is just the latest in a series of star players based in Spain to be accused of tax fraud on income related to image rights in the past few years.
Real Madrid's all-time leading scorer Cristiano Ronaldo appeared in court in July over accusations he evaded 14.7 million euros (Sh1.7 billion) worth of tax between 2011 and 2014.
Barcelona duo Lionel Messi and Javier Mascherano received 21-month and one-year suspended sentences respectively after being found guilty of tax fraud over their image rights in 2016.
However, five-time World Player of the Year Messi's sentence was later replaced by a 252,000 euro (Sh30 million) fine.
