A Sao Paulo federal court froze nearly $50m of Brazilian superstar Neymar’s asset on Friday due to allegations of tax evasion, with the player allegedly accused of failing to fully declare his earnings.
The case against the 23-year-old Selecao ace is that he is believed to have evaded nearly $16m in taxes between 2011 and 2013, prior to leaving Santos for La Liga giants Barcelona.
Neymar is being held accountable for the suspected crime because, as stated by the presiding judge Carlos Muta, the player "is solely responsible for the income declaration".
A judicial order which clarifies the assets frozen, which include individually-owned property and vehicles and three companies which Neymar owns in principle with his father, are in excess of the amount that the Brazilian is accused of evading.
No date has been set for the case yet.
Although a response from Neymar is yet to come, his parent have opened up about the case, blasting the case as an “unfair accusation”, stating:
“Some explaining is required regarding the freezing of some R$ 118 of Neymar's finances. This is not tax evasion, it's an unfair accusation.
“Neymar is not an associate of either of the companies in question – how can he possibly declare funds he hadn't appropriated?”
Neymar is the second Blaugrana star to meet with tax evasion allegations, following in the footsteps of Argentine forward Lionel Messi, who will face trial for tax fraud between 2007 and 2009, despite La Pulga claiming to be unaware of the handling of his finances.
