Story By: Juan Mayes, Sub Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Golder’s News And Sport
Liverpool legend Xabi Alonso has received a formal complaint by Spanish prosecutors for alleged tax fraud for the third time.
Former Spain international Alonso, 38, received the formal complaint by the Prosecution of Financial Crimes of Madrid for allegedly committing tax fraud in 2014.
Local media said the former Real Madrid midfielder is being accused of failing to pay taxes for his image rights to the tune of 840,017 EUR (698,961 GBP).
Alonso’s financial adviser Ivan Zaldua Azcuenaga and Ignacio Maestre have also reportedly been included in the complaint.
Local media said the latest tax fraud accusation against Alonso is based on a report from the Madrid Delegation of the State Agency of Tributary Administration (AEAT) from 13th December 2019.
According to the report, Alonso is being accused of trying to “obtain illicit financial benefits” by “not declaring any amount coming from” his image rights when he used Kardzali Commercial Services “with the aim of making the benefits fiscally obscure” and “hiding them from Ministry of Finance.”
Alonso will reportedly have to go to a Spanish court to make a statement in March, however the exact date is unclear.
He was recently acquitted of tax fraud on 26th November 2019 after he was accused of not paying 5 million EUR (4.3 million GBP) in taxes on his image rights in the years 2010, 2011 and 2012.
The former Liverpool star allegedly sold his image rights to Madeira-based Kardzali Commercial Services in 2009, but the company reportedly belonged to a Panama-based group which Alonso owned 100 percent of.
The assignment of the image rights was made in 2009 when Alonso was still a non-resident taxpayer in Spain after his move from Liverpool, but illegally continued using the company, according to prosecutors.
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