Diego Costa to face trial for tax fraud
during the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 First Leg match between Club Atletico de Madrid and Juventus at Estadio Wanda Metropolitano on February 20, 2019 in Madrid, Spain.
Atletico Madrid forward Diego Costa is to face trial on 4 June for tax fraud.
According to a court filing, Costa, 31, defrauded the state of more than 1m euros (£813,000) by not declaring payments of more than 5.15m euros (£4.19m) from his 2014 move to Chelsea.
In addition, he did not declare more than 1m euros in image rights.
Prosecutors in Madrid want the Spain international to be given a six month prison sentence and a fine of 507,208 euros (£457,128).
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Spanish law allows sentences below two years for non-violent crimes to be exchanged for a fine, so if found guilty Costa would avoid prison if he paid an additional fine of 36,500 euros (£32,896).
Costa re-joined Atletico from Chelsea in 2017.
The amounts Costa is alleged to have defrauded the Spanish government in 2014 are accurate using the currency exchange rates at the time.
Tags: Atletico MadridDiego Costa
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