Diego Costa goes to the cashier after admitting being guilty of tax fraud. He will have to pay a fine of 543,000 euros for fraud estimated at just over a million euros. The attacker had already paid off his tax debt last summer.
Diego Costa had been sentenced to six months in prison, a sentence commuted after an agreement with the prosecution in a fine of 36,000 euros, to which was added another fine of 507,208 euros due to the large sum of money defrauded.
The footballer had already paid, in August, "1.14 million euros, fully repaying his tax debt, interest included", which facilitated the agreement with the Spanish justice, can be read in the court decision.
The gains of his transfer to Chelsea in question
The Atlético striker appeared Thursday in a Madrid regional court, accompanied by his lawyers, to attend a short trial, where all that remained was to sign the agreement with the prosecution, whose requisitions are detailed in the conviction.
Diego Costa was accused of not having included on his tax return corresponding to the year 2014, when he signed his transfer to Chelsea, the gains from this agreement with the London club. According to Spanish justice, the fees paid by the English club "amounted to 5,150,622.39 euros, declared in the United Kingdom, knowing that these incomes were subject to tax in Spain".
The footballer would also have concealed "1,371,098.31 euros corresponding to the income from the exploitation of his image rights", added the Spanish justice. Diego Costa had left Atlético Madrid at the end of the 2013-2014 season to join Chelsea, then took the opposite path in January 2018, to return to Madrid.
In recent years, the Spanish tax authorities have been closely monitoring the football economy, and stars like Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have already been convicted of tax fraud. The last case was that of Xabi Alonso. The former Spanish Real Madrid international, now retired, was whitewashed last November when he was accused of an alleged fraud of two million euros when he played at Real.
Sport
Tax fraud: Diego Costa will pay 1.7 million euros to the Spanish tax authorities without going through the prison box
- Sport
- Tax fraud
- Liga
- Atletico madrid
- Diego Costa