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Barca defender Mascherano indicted for tax evasion

Xinhua, October 1, 2015 Adjust font size:

FC Barcelona defender Javier Mascherano was on Thursday indicted for charges of attempting to avoid income tax payments of around 1.5 million euros (approximately 1.7 million U.S. dollars).

The indictment comes from the Court in the town of Gava, just to the south of Barcelona and where Mascherano's team-mate and fellow countryman Leo Messi has also been called to face tax-evasion charges.

Mascherano is accused of not having declared his earnings through image rights for the years 2011 and 2012, thus avoiding the payment of 1.5 million euros in tax.

The Judge for Economic Crimes (Delitos Economicos) alleges that Mascherano avoided these payments by ceding them to companies he had helped to set up, which were based in countries with favorable tax conditions.

In his finding the Judge considers Mascherano's strategy was to set up a company in Madeira which "presents an especially favorable fiscal regime" and that through this "strategy of hiding the income from his image rights, the footballer defrauded a total of 587,822 euros in income tax from 2011 and 968,907 euros in 2012."

Mascherano was called to appear in court on October 29th. Endit