Tax fraud: Samuel Eto’o pleads guilty to avoid going to prison

Samuel Eto’o reached an agreement on Monday with the Spanish public prosecutor’s office, which was prosecuting him for tax evasion and which will allow him to avoid going to prison, a Barcelona court announced on Monday. Under the terms of this agreement, the former Cameroonian international, 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 by Spanish law. , because this sentence is less than two years.

The amount of the fine that the player will have to pay has not been communicated by the court but it amounts to around 1.8 million euros, according to the Spanish press. Samuel Eto’o and José Maria Mesalles – his ex-representative who was sentenced for his part to 12 months in prison and a fine – will also have to reimburse the Spanish tax authorities for the sum defrauded, i.e. nearly 3.9 million euros. euros. Contacted by AFP, the tax administration declined to comment.

Eto’o had sold his image rights to a company based in Hungary

The prosecution was prosecuting the former African football star, who became president of the Cameroonian Federation at the end of 2021, for four offenses against the tax authorities dating back to the years 2006-2009. Eto’o had been playing for FC Barcelona since 2004, with whom he won three Spanish Championships, a King’s Cup, two Spanish Supercups and two Champions Leagues. The prosecution assured that the player had set up an assembly of companies in order to avoid declaring part of his income.

According to him, Eto’o had transferred 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 earnings were taxed as corporation tax, lower than the income tax that should have been paid.

But the Cameroonian”was the real owner of the image rights“, 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 evasion. Before him, Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi have notably had trouble with the tax authorities and the courts.