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Samuel Eto’o Is Sentenced To 22 Months In Jail In Spain For Tax Fraud?
Former Barcelona striker Samuel Eto’o has been spared a jail sentence after receiving a 22-month suspended sentence for fraud.
At relation to a failure to register revenue from his image rights between 2006 and 2009, the ex-Cameroon international pled guilty to tax charges in Barcelona Criminal Court for little under €3.9 million (£3.3m/$4.1m).
Eto’o has been forced to pay four fines totaling €1.8 million (£1.6 million/$1.9 million), although he has escaped an immediate prison sentence due to his prior clean record and the fact that he has already repaid some of the fraudulent funds.
What did Eto’o have to say about his acquittal?
The former attacker, who won the Champions League four times with three different clubs and had a spectacular career.
During his time in Spain, Italy, England, and Turkey, he accepted the charges while claiming that his old advisor Jose Maria Mesalles had mislead him, and that he had filed a second action against him.
The rest of the article may be found below.
Eto’o claims that the manipulation of his funds, which saw the player’s image rights between Puma and Barcelona go undeclared through the use of two external firms in Hungary and Spain, was at the suggestion of the latter, whom he previously characterized as a “father figure.”
“I recognize the facts and I will pay,” the 41-year-old said in court, “but let it be known that I was a child at the time and that I always did what my father wanted me to do.” the 41-year-old read in a statement in court, per Sport.
The rest of the article may be found below.
Eto’o claims that the manipulation of his funds, which saw the player’s image rights between Puma and Barcelona go undeclared through the use of two external firms in Hungary and Spain, was at the suggestion of the latter, whom he previously characterized as a “father figure.”
“I recognize the facts and I will pay,” the 41-year-old said in court, “but let it be known that I was a child at the time and that I always did what my father wanted me to do.”
Is there anyone else who has been charged?
Eto’o isn’t the only one who has been charged and pleaded guilty; Mesalles was also given a year’s suspended sentence for his role in the scheme.
Source: goal.com
