Last month, Spanish prosecutors said they are seeking a prison term of more than 10 years for former Barcelona striker Samuel Eto’o for alleged tax crimes committed when he played for the Catalan club.
Earlier this year, Barcelona midfielder Javier Mascherano was handed a suspended one-year sentence for tax fraud, and former defender Adriano was also charged with tax irregularities.
Panama Papers
The leak, released just eight months after the so-called Panama Papers, will also come as a blow to offshore jurisdictions, revealing once again how the world’s rich and powerful use tax havens to hide their wealth.
Last month, Mossack Fonseca, the law firm at the centre of the Panama papers scandal, was fined a record $440,000 (£351,261, €408,307) by the British Virgin Islands’ Financial Services Commission (FSC).
BVI responds
Speaking to International Adviser, a spokesperson for the British Virgin Islands finance centre, said: “BVI Finance does not comment on the specific details of individual cases.
“We in the BVI are fiercely proud of our reputation as a trustworthy financial centre and we want to reiterate that we do not tolerate any abuses of our structures.
“BVI has a strong track record of investigating any evidence of wrong doing and taking enforcement action in cases where transgressions are found.”
