Former Chelsea defender Ricardo Carvalho is the latest to be found guilty of crimes against the tax authority of Spain, and he has been sentenced to do an incredible seven months in prison. The Portuguese defender has also been fined just under £130,000 for his alleged involvement in the tax evasion process. The Spanish law is in such a way that any punishment below two years in length does not require an individual, who does not have any previous confessions, to serve time in the jail.
Ricardo Carvalho is currently playing with Chinese outfit Shanghai SIPG and he has been found guilty of hiding his income while he was playing with Real Madrid between 2010 and 2013. The defender reportedly avoided tax in the region of € 545,000. Even though Carvalho has since returned with the amount and has pleaded guilty of the charges, it is a major blow to his reputation in the game. The play, however, helped him reduce the initial sentence of 12 months and €300,000 fine.
A number of players have been affected by the Spanish tax authorities coming in with a rigourous measures to clean out any measures to avoid tax. The chase for the unaccounted money has led to even the top stars like Ricardo Carvalho being affected. Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are two of the biggest names in the world and they have not been spared either. Back in 2016, Lionel Messi was given a jail sentence for 12 months and was fined close to €4.5 million. However, the Barcelona star did not face any jail term.
Cristiano Ronaldo has been allegedly avoiding taxes in the region of €15 million. Even though the Real Madrid star has been repeatedly denying those allegations, he is expected to face formal charges upon further investigation into the same.
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