Former Cameroonian football star Samuel Eto’o has struck a deal with Spanish prosecutors to avoid being jailed for tax fraud while playing for Barcelona, a city court announced on Monday.
Eto’o, who played for Barcelona from 2004 to 2009, received a fine and a suspended sentence of 22 months, but would not serve any time, as in Spain for nonviolent offenses with a prison sentence of less than two years. is customary.
Spain’s report claimed that 41-year-old Eto would be fined 1.8 million euros ($1.9 million).
Record four-time African footballer and his former representative Jose María Mesales, who were sentenced to 12 months and a fine for his part, will have to reimburse Spanish tax authorities for a fraudulent amount of about 3.9 million euros.
Prosecutors accused Eto of failing to declare proceeds from the transfer of image rights between 2006 and 2009.
According to him, Eto’o transferred its image rights to a company based in Hungary, which declared its earnings in a country where the tax rate is “the lowest in Europe”.
A second Spanish company declared them in Spain at a corporate tax rate that was lower than the income tax that should have been paid.
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Eto’o was the “actual holder of the image rights”, maintained the prosecution, according to which the transfer was fraudulent and designed only to pay less tax.
Eto’o, who was elected head of the Cameroonian football federation last year, is one of several football stars to have run-ins with Spanish tax authorities after the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Neymar.
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