Barcelona forward Neymar has been ordered to pay €45m to the Brazilian treasury for tax fraud.
According to newspaper Folha de Sao Paulo, a Brazilian court found Neymar guilty of committing tax evasion and tax fraud, but the sentence is not final, so the attacker can appeal the decision.
The court ruling states Neymar used his companies to avoid paying €56m in tax from his earnings with Santos, Barca and Nike between 2012 and 2014, while false contracts written to pay less contributions were discovered.
“Having analysed the information on Neymar, the three companies involved and his partners [the player’s parents], we can confirm that fraudulent business practices were carried out,” Develly Claudia Montez, who performed the audit, was quoted as saying by AS.
