By Daily Sports on March 19, 2016

Guilty. That’s the word out of Rio today. According to La Folha de Sao Paulo, a Brazilian administrative court has found Barcelona forward Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior, known simply as Neymar, guilty of tax fraud for failing to report earnings from a number of lucrative contracts. As a result, Neymar will have to pay 188.8 million Brazilian reals ($51.74 million U.S.) in penalty, interest and back taxes.

Neymar, a native of Brazil, burst onto the soccer scene playing for the youth club Santos FC. He was reportedly sought after by major European clubs at the age of 14 but stayed in his home country to play for club Santos, making his professional debut with the club in 2009. It was during his time with Santos – and the negotiations before he joined the senior team – that the unclaimed income was allegedly paid to Neymar.

If that sounds like a familiar story, it is. Santos alleges that similar negotiations took place when Neymar signed with FC Barcelona. That contract, together with a winning team, helped Neymar climb the ranks of the soccer elite: in 2015, Neymar was ranked #82 on Forbes’ Celebrity 100 list and #23 on Forbes’ list of the World’s Highest Paid Athletes racking up $14 million in salary and $17 million in endorsements last year alone.

Although Neymar made the move to Barcelona in 2013, Santos alleges that negotiations for Neymar began as early as 2011. Allegedly, payments related to that signing were made to a Brazilian company controlled by Neymar’s father, which Spanish prosecutors allege were disguised as other payments in order to avoid reporting and tax requirements. Payments were also made to Santos. (FORBES)

•Photo shows Neymar.

Source Daily Sports

Posted March 19, 2016

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