By Andrew Warshaw
June 3 – Former Bayern Munich president Uli Hoeness, whose fall from grace as one of European club football’s most influential administrators has been well chronicled, has begun serving his three years and six months jail sentence for tax evasion.
Hoeness was found guilty in March of evading €28.5 million and said at the time it was “the biggest mistake” of his life.
Prosecutors originally charged Hoeness with dodging €3.5 million in taxes. But on the first day of the trial Hoeness stunned the court by admitting he had actually evaded five times that amount – €18.5 million. That figure was raised even further to €27.2 million on the second day when a tax inspector testified that the amount was higher still.
Hoeness, who reportedly counted German Chancellor Angela Merkel among his friends, was found guilty of “seven serious counts of tax evasion”. His legal team argued he should escape punishment because he gave himself up and filed an amended tax return.
But prosecutors said he only did so because investigators were already pursuing his case and judges ruled that his confession fell short of full disclosure.
Hoeness, a living legend in Germany, helped them win the 1972 European Championship and the World Cup two years later.
During two generations, he was instrumental in turning Bayern into one of the world’s most powerful and successful clubs. He resigned after his conviction in one of the most spectacular tax evasion cases in post-war Germany, a case that shocked the nation and prompted scores of tax dodgers to turn themselves in.
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