Cameroonian Football Striker Eto’o May Face up to 10.5-Year Sentence

Cameroonian football striker Samuel Eto’o evaded paying the taxes for the income he received from a sport outfit manufacturer in 2006-2009 when he played for Barcelona, according to Spanish prosecution.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Spanish prosecution demands 10.5-year sentence for famous Cameroonian football striker Samuel Eto’o accused of tax evasion, local media reported on Thursday.

The prosecution also demands a 14-million euro (about $15 million) fine for Eto’o, the El Pais newspaper reported. The investigation has been ongoing since 2012, when police accused Eto’o of failing to pay 3.5 million euro in taxes.

According to the prosecution, the forward evaded paying the taxes for the income he received from a sport outfit manufacturer in 2006-2009 when he played for Barcelona.

Eto’o had reportedly registered two companies – in Hungary and in Spain — that received money and as legal entities paid fewer taxes than the striker would have to pay as a private person.

Former agent of Eto’o Josep Maria Mesalles, who was accused of fraud by the forward in 2011, is also suspected of involvement in the scheme.

Eto’o, who now plays for Turkey’s Antalyaspor, played for Spanish Barcelona in 2004-2009, Italy's Inter Milan in 2009-2011 and England's Chelsea in 2013-2014. In 2011-2013, he was a forward in the Russian football club Anzhi.