Arsenal footballer Alexis Sanchez accused of tax evasion by Spanish authorities

Arsenal star faces potential prison sentence over £900,000 tax fraud claim

Alexis Sanchez could face a suspended prison sentence and a heavy fine after being accused of tax fraud by the Spanish authorities.

According to El Periodico, a newspaper based in Catalonia, Sanchez did not pay income tax on earnings of nearly £900,000 during his time at Barcelona in 2012 and 2013.

Miguel Angel Perez de Gregorio, who is the prosecutor in the case, has accused Sanchez of using Numidia Trading, a company based in Malta which the Chilean owns a 99% stake in, to receive payments for his image rights.

The Arsenal forward allegedly failed to declare any income from the image rights which totalled £531,325 in 2012 and £357,816 in 2013.

The prosecution argues that Numidia Trading is a ‘purely instrumental entity to facilitate the fraud committed to the Spanish Treasury’.

Sanchez is the fifth player associated with Barcelona to be investigated by the Spanish authorities over tax fraud after Lionel Messi, Javier Mascherano, Samuel Eto’o and Adriano.

In July, Messi was handed a 21-month suspended prison sentence and fined £1.5 million after being found guilty of tax fraud.

Mascherano was given a suspended sentence of a year and a £623,000 fine after he pleaded guilty to charges of defrauding the Spanish tax authority of £1.1m.