The prosecutor claims two years and nine months in prison to Sandro Rosell for tax fraud

The Barcelona prosecutor Pedro Castro In his indictment, he requests two years and nine months in prison from the former president of the Barça Sandro Rosell for allegedly having defrauded the Treasury 230,591 in 2012, as well as the payment of a fine of 300,000 euros and the loss of the possibility of obtaining public subsidies and the right to enjoy tax incentives, according to the letter to which EL PERIÓDICO has had access. The requested penalty could have been greater, but the public prosecution applies the mitigating mitigation of repairing the damage, since the former Barça president entered the defrauded quota and interest (287,911 euros) in the public coffers,

According to the prosecution, Rosell “he devised and carried out fraud behavior” against the Treasury. In 2012, he maintains, the businessman dedicated himself to consulting and mediation work, providing the books and records required for tax purposes during the verification file. The accusation emphasizes that for the “bulk of activities”, the former president of Barça used the company TOC SLU, which was established three years before and whose corporate purpose, among others, is the organization of events, including investments through participations in other firms. He was domiciled at his domicile and lacked a “business structure to provide services.” Of the five people who did work for her, they did cleaning and maintenance of the former club executive’s home and a second residence, the public prosecution insists.

Control of a company

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The prosecutor’s letter emphasizes that, “thanks to his control” over this company, Rosell “formally used” it in 2012 to obtain income that he did not declare in his personal income tax return for 352,382 euros, income derived from his “personal professional activity”. The TOC company limited itself, it affects, to “sublet offices” in the property that, in turn, the defendant had rented. The alleged fraud mechanism, in his opinion, consisted of the “issuance and collection” by that billing company for that amount to clients who “belonged to” the accused. This conduct made it possible to “hide” Rosell’s remuneration for the professional services he provided to third parties. At 352.82 euros, the expenses must be subtracted: 7,000 euros corresponding to mobile telephony. The public accusation also details unjustified deductions, as well as a real estate operation and the non-inclusion in his tax return of some income from a farm.

In 2019, the National Court acquitted Rosell, who was already the other five accused of laundering commissions for the audiovisual rights of 24 matches of the Brazilian soccer team and a sponsorship contract with Nike. For this case, he spent 22 months in prison. The former president of Barça still has pending the trial for the signing of Neymar, and the one who faces five years in prison for the alleged crimes of corruption and fraud.