The Argentine has been fined €815,000 and handed a year sentence for two counts of fiscal crimes committed in 2011 and 2012
Javier Mascherano has been sentenced to a year in prison but is unlikely to ever serve time in jail,
The Argentine has been fined €815,000 and handed a year's sentence for two counts of fiscal crimes committed in 2011 and 2012.
Mascherano has previously admitted to the offenses, repaid the money owed and paid a hefty fine as recompense.
After
such compliance with the investigation, the court is expected to grant
the wish of Mascherano and his lawyer, David Aineto, in suspending the
custodial sentence in exchange for a further fine.
The Barcelona
star said in a statement released on Thursday: "I'm a professional
sportsman and I don't know a lot about legal and financial matters.
"Therefore I must rely on the people that manage these technical, and for me, complicated, issues.
"All
my career I have been an honest and responsible person... I will take
this experience that has accosted me as another experience which I will
leave stronger and calmed by the fact that I am once again within the
law."
Lionel Messi's
tax fraud case, meanwhile, will be heard by a Barcelona court from May
31 through to June 3, meaning he will need to travel some 6,000 miles
just days before Argentina's Copa America opener.
Messi, who won a record fifth Ballon d'Or award last week, is
accused along with his father, Jorge, of defrauding the Spanish state
of €4.2million (£3.23m) in tax between 2007 and 2009.
A Spanish court last October ordered that they both stand trial in the case, with the local state attorney proposing jail terms of up to two years if they are found guilty.
And
Messi, who is Argentina captain, is due to lead his country out for
their Copa America opener in Santa Clara, near San Francisco, on June 6.
PA
Messi and his father have already paid €5million to
the tax authorities as a "corrective" measure after they were formally
charged in June 2013.
And should the trial go the distance then
the 28-year-old will be forced to travel the 5,994 miles from Barcelona
to the Bay Area in order to appear in Argentina's opener.
Javier Mascherano's statement in full:
Today
I have reached an agreement with the Spanish tax authorities, with a
firm verdict agreed by all parties. Thus, with a resolution now for the
legal matters and with the relief of having sorted my tax situation, I
would like to make a brief statement.
After agreeing my
move to Barcelona I contracted a specialist tax agency with well-known
professionals that enjoy a great reputation. According to my situation
they recommended me certain structures, all within the law, telling me
that they were normal, transparent and accepted procedures.
I
was assessed by these professionals from 2010 to 2014 I decided to
change agency because of the proceedings I was facing, and with evidence
that the problems may not be 'potential' but in fact very real. My new
agency recommended that I pay the tax authorities the money they were
claiming, presenting also a corrective payment.
Now, finally, after a long wait this agreement has arrived which allows me to relax again and go about my daily life.
I'm a professional sportsman and I don't know a lot about legal and financial matters.
Therefore I must rely on the people that manage these technical, and for me, complicated, issues.
All
my career I have been an honest and responsible person... I will take
this experience that has accosted me as another experience which I will
leave stronger and calmed by the fact that I am once again within the
law.
Barcelona defender, Javier Mascherano has been sentenced to a year in prison after being found guilty of tax evasion.
The Argentinian defender had entered a plea of guilty last year on charges of tax evasion to the tune of €1.5 million.
Mascherano failed to pay income taxes between 2011-2012 and as a result will also be mandated to pay a fine of €815,000.
It is doubtful that Mascherano will serve a prison sentence after his lawyers filed that his jail sentence be changed to an option of a further fine.
- See more at: http://olorisupergal.com/barcelonas-javier-mascherano-sentenced-to-1-year-in-jail/#sthash.ImTnaKuK.dpuf
The Argentinian defender had entered a plea of guilty last year on charges of tax evasion to the tune of €1.5 million.
Mascherano failed to pay income taxes between 2011-2012 and as a result will also be mandated to pay a fine of €815,000.
It is doubtful that Mascherano will serve a prison sentence after his lawyers filed that his jail sentence be changed to an option of a further fine.
- See more at: http://olorisupergal.com/barcelonas-javier-mascherano-sentenced-to-1-year-in-jail/#sthash.ImTnaKuK.dpuf
Barcelona defender, Javier Mascherano has been sentenced to a year in prison after being found guilty of tax evasion.
The Argentinian defender had entered a plea of guilty last year on charges of tax evasion to the tune of €1.5 million.
Mascherano failed to pay income taxes between 2011-2012 and as a result will also be mandated to pay a fine of €815,000.
It is doubtful that Mascherano will serve a prison sentence after his lawyers filed that his jail sentence be changed to an option of a further fine.
- See more at: http://olorisupergal.com/barcelonas-javier-mascherano-sentenced-to-1-year-in-jail/#sthash.ImTnaKuK.dpuf
The Argentinian defender had entered a plea of guilty last year on charges of tax evasion to the tune of €1.5 million.
Mascherano failed to pay income taxes between 2011-2012 and as a result will also be mandated to pay a fine of €815,000.
It is doubtful that Mascherano will serve a prison sentence after his lawyers filed that his jail sentence be changed to an option of a further fine.
- See more at: http://olorisupergal.com/barcelonas-javier-mascherano-sentenced-to-1-year-in-jail/#sthash.ImTnaKuK.dpuf
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