By Mark Baber
October 30- Barcelona defender Javier Mascherano admitted to two counts of tax fraud totalling 1.5m euros in a five minute hearing on Thursday in Gava near Barcelona.
State prosecutors say the Argentina international, who is a Spanish resident and who has played for Barcelona since 2010, attempted to conceal earnings from his image rights, including from Nike, by using companies he owns in Portugal and the United States, with €587,822.01 owed for 2011 and €968,907.76 for 2012.
Last month a court filing confirmed Mascherano had paid over 1.75m euros – the full amount claimed including interest – in a bid to avoid serious punishment and on Thursday, according to a widely quoted judicial source, “Mascherano admitted the facts of the two counts of tax fraud, so there was no need to interrogate him.”
It is being reported in the Spanish media that the player is likely to avoid a trial, with the most likely outcome being a deal with prosecutors to pay a fine.
Whilst Spanish prosecutors have recently been more willing to deal harshly with white collar crime, the tendency to allow offenders to escape with a fine remains, despite the economic crisis and austerity. With a new general election in December, which opinion polls suggest will see a strong shift to the left, this might change, particularly if the left-wing populist Podemos party comes to power on a platform which includes tackling tax evasion.
Mascherano isn’t the only Barcelona player currently accused of tax fraud – Lionel Messi is set to stand trial for an alleged 4.16m euro tax fraud, also involving image rights, with the player and his father denying any wrongdoing. Former Barcelona President Sandro Rosell is also alleged to have been involved in evading taxes after misappropriating funds to hide the cost of the transfer fee paid to acquire Brazil striker Neymar from Santos in 2013. Neymar himself has had some of his assets frozen in Brazil because of accusations of tax fraud and is also under investigation in Spain.