Former FCB player Eto’o admits to tax fraud to avoid imprisonment
Footballer sentenced to a year and nine months in prison and must pay €7.9 million
Former Futbol Club Barcelona (FCB) player Samuel Eto’o admitted on Monday that he committed tax fraud between 2006 and 2009. He plead guilty to avoid imprisonment and recognized defrauding over €6 million.
People in Spain who are sentenced to under two years in prison do not have to spend time behind bars if they do not have a criminal record and if approved by a judge.
The public prosecutor's office and Spain’s solicitor general, representing the Spanish government, had requested a four-and-a-half-year sentence. Both reduced the petition to a year and nine months as Eto’o acknowledged his guilt and agreed to pay the fine.
According to the ruling, Samuel Eto’o and his representative created a company in Spain and another in Hungary that managed the footballer's image rights in order to lower his taxable earnings.
With the fine of around €2 million in addition to the amount evaded, Samuel Eto’o will have to pay around €7.9 million, of which he has, as of yet, only paid around €2.2 million.