Ancelotti in Spanish court accused of €1m tax fraud
Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti will tomorrow appear in court accused of tax fraud of more than €1m.
The 65-year-old former Premier League manager will stand trial in Madrid on charges of defrauding the Spanish tax office to the tune of £836,857 in undeclared earnings from image rights a decade ago. The trial is expected to conclude on Thursday.
The period of investigation relates to the years 2014 and 2015, with prosecutors seeking a jail term of nearly five years for the Italian.
Prosecutors allege that Ancelotti, who has won the Champions League five times with three clubs, employed the use of shell companies outside of Spanish tax remits to create “opacity vis-a-vis the Spanish treasury … concealing the real beneficiary of the income from the exploitation of his image rights”.
Mbappe Law
They add that he omitted personal income from image rights despite being a Spanish resident for tax purposes – the so-called Mbappe Law was not introduced until 2024 – and failed to pay over £800,000 in tax owed.
The former Chelsea, Everton, AC Milan, Paris Saint-Germain and Napoli boss has denied the charges, however, and preceded the trial by saying he has “total confidence in the law and in justice”.
“I’m not worried but I am obviously annoyed if they say that I’ve committed fraud, but, once again, I have total confidence in justice,” he added. “I’m really looking forward to testifying on Wednesday.”
The Mbappe Law – relating to Read Madrid star Kylian – is a tax incentive that provides a 20 per cent tax owed deduction for investments made that are not real estate.
It covers the five years after an individual moves their tax residence to Madrid, beginning in 2024.
Ancelotti is not the first high profile individual to be hauled in front of the Spanish authorities, with the likes of Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Jose Mourinho and Diego Costa among those to see their day in court.
Messi was sentenced to 21 months in prison but was spared jail time, Ronaldo was forced to pay £16.5m, Mourinho was given a one-year suspended sentence and Costa paid a fine in excess of £500,000.