A yacht, a plane and several properties.
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Those are among Neymar’s possessions which have been frozen by a court in Brazil, as the investigation into alleged tax fraud against the Brazil and Barcelona superstar continues.
Neymar, 24, has always claimed his innocence regarding accusations of tax evasion in his homeland between 2011-13.
The federal court in Sao Paulo has issued warrants to freeze assets amounting to $50 million as three companies belonging to Neymar’s family have also been included.
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A eye-watering $16 million in unpaid taxes is what state prosecutors want from Neymar, as they believe he set up companies purely to pay a lower rate of tax. If he pays the astronomical fine of $16 million then the case is closed but Neymar can still appeal the charges and this is likely to drag on for some time.
That said, if you’re reading this and are slightly confused by some of the details it’s probably because you’ve read about the other tax investigation against Neymar. This is by the Spanish authorities and is currently ongoing as they claim Neymar and his father have been involved in fraud and corruption regarding his transfer to Barcelona from Santos in 2013. They deny any wrongdoing.
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With Lionel Messi and his family and Javier Mascherano both getting caught up with investigations into alleged tax fraud by the Spanish authorities, the boys at Barcelona seem to have a lot more on their minds than just winning every trophy known to mankind.
Well, they did that last season (La Liga, Copa del Rey and UEFA Champions League) and look very capable of doing it once again this campaign. So, they have the whole winning trophies at a canter thing sorted. Now they can fully concentrate on clearing their names of any wrongdoing in cases such as these, right?
