MADRID: Troubles keep piling up for Spanish champions Barcelona on and off the pitch.
After last week’s Champions League thrashing by Paris Saint-Germain the club, Brazil’s Santos and superstar forward Neymar have lost their final appeals and been sent for trial on corruption charges related to the player’s transfer four years ago.
Also sent for trial has been the company run by Neymar’s parents.
A Brazilian investment group had complained to the tax authorities that it had received a reduced compensation under a third-party ownership arrangement because the true size of the transfer fee was concealed by those involved.
Prosecutors are seeking a two-year prison sentence and a fine of nearly $10m for Neymar and his father on corruption charges although, if found guilty, it is unlikely they would face jail time. Prosecutors are also seeking a fine of $9m from Barcelona and $7m from Santos.
Last December Barcelona have agreed to pay a fine of €5.5m as punishment for two charges of tax evasion over the Neymar transfer. The accepted having committed two criminal offences, in 2011 and 2013. President Josep Maria Bertomeu and his predecessor, Sandro Rosell, were both been acquitted.
In 2011 Barcelona paid €10m as a down-payment to the player’s family company, N & N (Neymar and his father) on a subsequent transfer of the player and then a further €40m in 2013. The prosecution had objected that the sums were effective salary payments rather than transfer fees.
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