Alexis Sanchez is being investigated by Barcelona’s Public Prosecutor for evading almost £900,000 in tax, according to reports in Spain.

The Arsenal star, who started in Tuesday night’s 3-2 Champions League win against Ludogorets, is alleged to have defrauded the Spanish Treasury in 2012 and 2013.

Catalan newspaper El Periodico say that Sanchez has been accused of ‘actively withholding’ taxes during his time at Barcelona.

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Prosecutor Miguel Angel Perez de Gregorio is said to have signed a complaint against the Chilean, who spent three seasons at the Nou Camp before joining the Gunners in the summer of 2014.

El Periodico claim that Sanchez failed to pay tax due on his image rights after simulating the transfer of them to Numidia Trading, a company based in Malta.



It is said that the 27-year-old evaded £530,000 (587,677 euros) of tax in 2012 and £357,000 (395,766 euros) in 2013 after hiding the existence of Numidia, of which he owned 99 per cent.

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The complaint against Sanchez claims that Numidia is a ‘purely instrumental entity’ to facilitate ‘the fraud committed to the Spanish Treasury’ and that the Arsenal star could face two tax offences.

Sanchez is the sixth player to be recently accused of tax evasion during his time at Barcelona, with Lionel Messi, Neymar, Javier Mascherano, Samuel Eto’o and Adriano also facing complaints.

Messi was fined £1.7million in July after him and his father were found guilty of three counts of tax fraud. The Argentine was also handed a 21-month prison sentence, but he will not spend any time in jail due to Spanish law.

Mascherano was sentenced to a year in prison but avoided doing any time after agreeing to pay a fine of £625,000 for two tax offences. The former Liverpool man also paid his full £1.15m debt before he was given his punishment.

Neymar was found guilty of tax evasion by a court in Rio earlier this year and was ordered to pay back £36.3m, while Eto’o and Adriano’s cases are ongoing.


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