The Barcelona defender Javier Mascherano has been sentenced to one year in jail for tax evasion. However, a top Spanish news medium reports that the player is unlikely to serve time in jail.
Javier Mascherano
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Mascherano joined the Catalan giants in 2010 and pleaded guilty last year to defrauding Spanish tax authorities to the tune of (£1.15m) by concealing earnings from his image rights by using companies set up in the United States and Portugal.
The 31-year-old appeared in court on Thursday, January 21, 2015 and agreed to pay an 800,000 euro (£612,000) fine. He also promised to cover the legal costs, as reported by newspaper El Pais.
The former Liverpool and West Ham player also paid back the unpaid tax plus almost 200,000 euros (£153,000) in interest.
In a tweet, Mascherano disclosed that he was not given proper legal advice but acknowledged the plea bargain.
“I’m a sporting professional, I don’t have a great understanding of tax and legal matters,” the Argentine international said in his statement.
“Therefore, to deal with what are for me technical and complicated matters, I have to rely on other people.
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“Throughout all my career I have been an honest person, responsible and respectful of my team-mates and the clubs that I have played for and the countries I have lived in.
”I reserve the possibility of action against those who have badly advised me by recommending something that was not right.”
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