Ex-footballer Samuel Eto’o admits tax fraud to avoid prison

Published on: 06/20/2022 – 18:35 Prosecuted for tax evasion by the Spanish courts, the former Cameroonian footballer Samuel Eto’o chose to plead guilty to avoid going to prison, announced on Monday a Court of Barcelona. He was fined and sentenced to 22 months in prison. However, he will not be imprisoned, as Spanish law provides, because this sentence is less than two years and he has no criminal record in the country. Samuel Eto’o takes out the checkbook. The former Cameroonian footballer has reached an agreement with the Spanish prosecutor’s office, which was prosecuting him for tax evasion, in order to avoid going to prison, a Barcelona court announced on Monday (June 20). Under the terms of this agreement, the footballer, who was playing at FC Barcelona at the time, was fined and sentenced to 22 months in prison but will not be imprisoned, as provided for by Spanish law, because this sentence is less than two years and that he has no criminal record in Spain. The amount of the fine that the player will have to pay has not been communicated by the court but it is approximately 8 million euros, according to the Spanish press. Spanish tax authorities the sum defrauded, i.e. nearly 3.9 million euros. Contacted by AFP, the tax administration did not wish to comment. The prosecution was prosecuting the former African football star, who became the end of 2021 president of the Cameroonian Federation, for four offenses against the tax authorities dating back to 2006 -2009. Eto’o had been playing since 2004 at FC Barcelona, ​​​​with whom he won three Spanish Championships, a King’s Cup, two Spanish Super Cups and two Champions Leagues. The prosecution assured that the player had put in places a set of companies in order to avoid declaring part of his income. Before him, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi According to him, Eto’o had sold his image rights to a company based in Hungary which declared its earnings in this country, where the tax rate is one of the “lowest in Europe”. A second company, Spanish, declared them in Spain, but these winnings were taxed as corporation tax, lower than the income tax that should have been paid. But the Cameroonian “was the real holder of the rights to the image”, affirmed the parquet floor, according to which this transfer was fraudulent and only intended to pay less taxes. Eto’o is the last footballer to date to be condemned in Spain for tax fraud. Before him, Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi had particular problems with the tax authorities and the courts. With AFP