Diego Costa Found Guilty of Tax Fraud But Avoids Prison Sentence
By Tom Gott
Atlético Madrid striker Diego Costa has been found guilty of tax fraud by a court in Madrid, but he will not serve a prison sentence after agreeing to pay a fine instead.
Costa was accused of failing to declare close to €5m which he earned as a result of his move to Chelsea in 2014, as well as more than €1m in image rights, which saw him avoid €1.1m in tax payments.
Diego Costa appears in court to settle tax fraud case https://t.co/PbGfVQUiSh pic.twitter.com/29CWLSUlM9
— Reuters Sports (@ReutersSports) June 4, 2020
Prosecutors were pushing for a six-month prison sentence and a fine of over €500,000, and according to El Mundo, that's exactly what the court agreed to. However, as we see with so many of these cases in Spain, Costa will avoid any jail time by paying an additional fine of €36,000.
“Diego Costa reached an agreement a few months ago with the prosecutor and has already paid the corresponding fine plus interest and the request for a prison sentence was withdrawn,” an Atlético spokesman told Reuters before the trial.
Interestingly, Costa had to turn to Atlético to pay his additional fine, and after being met with some resistance from the club, Los Rojiblancos eventually gave him an advance on his wages so he could pay the outstanding amount.
Costa has already paid the €1.1m which he was accused of hiding, despite arguing that he didn't actually have to. The striker's argument was that he only needed to pay tax in England as he moved to London, but Spanish authorities argued that he needed to pay tax in that country as he spent the first six months of 2014 in Spain.
Costa joined Chelsea in July of that year for a fee of £32m and went on to rack up 58 goals in 120 appearances, winning two Premier League titles before his infamous clash with then-manager Antonio Conte.
In June 2017, Conte sent Costa a text to tell him that his services were no longer required at Stamford Bridge, which sparked a lengthy battle between Costa, Chelsea and Atlético, who wanted to bring the striker back.
Despite their weakened bargaining stance, Chelsea held firm on their asking price and somehow convinced Atlético to part with £57m to bring the striker back, even though he couldn't be registered until January as they were under a transfer ban. Wild.