Xabi Could Face 8 Years Imprisonment for Tax Fraud

A court battle is seemingly looming for Xabi Alonso as the Spanish Tax Agency set out their case against the Spaniard for image rights fraud, which he denies.

This case had initially been closed, however a Madrid judge has ordered it to be investigated once more, with allegations of three separate tax violations, Marca reported.

El Confidencial report on Alonso maintaining his innocence in the face of a prosecution request that amounts to eight years in prison for him and his tax advisors allegedly hiding income in an offshore account, based in Madeira.

Initially, this case was closed due to Madeira being part of the European Union and thus not a tax haven, removing its possibility of being a crime.

And the former midfielder has refused to negotiate a conformance payment to accept culpability and be handed a prison sentence of less than two years, which he would not have to serve. This is the route previously taken by many footballers, such as Marcelo, Luka Modric, Javier Mascherano and others.

Instead, like Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi before him, Alonso defends his innocence completely.

According to reports, a company by the name of Kardzali was used to “simulate the transfer of image rights income in exchange for a €5 million ($6.15 million) investment in August 2009.

Subsequently, between 2010 and 2012, it is alleged that Kardzali registered €4.9 million ($6.025 million) of image rights income in Madeira from Real Madrid, Adidas, Movistar, Procter & Gamble, Gillette, Electronic Arts Software, Angula Aguinaga, El Corte Ingles, Emidio Tucci, Yamaha and Hugo Boss.