Ex-Man Utd & Chelsea Forward Radamel Falcao Handed Prison Sentence & Fine for Tax Fraud
A Spanish court has reportedly handed Radamel Falcao a 16-month suspended jail sentence and a €9m fine, after finding the striker guilty of tax fraud.
The Monaco forward was deemed to have defrauded over €5m over a two-year period during his spell with Atletico Madrid between 2011 and 2013.
According to El Confidencial, via Marca, the Colombia international was charged with "two tax crimes related to false income statements and image rights fraud," where he is reported to have defrauded €822,609 in 2012 and €4,839,253 in 2013 during his time with Los Rojiblancos.
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The 32-year-old's 16-month prison sentence was suspended as Spanish legislation states it is only mandatory to serve the sentence if the imprisonment sentence is two or more years.
Falcao's run-in with the law sees him join a host of star players who have been accused of similar crimes in recent years, with Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Xabi Alonso, Luka Modric and Marcelo all finding themselves in hot water with the tax man.
Falcao joined the Spanish giants in 2011 after sealing a move from Porto, before joining Monaco in 2013, where he has since had season-long loan deals with both Manchester United and Chelsea - where he failed to impress with either Premier League side after netting just five league goals in a combined 36 appearances.
The former Manchester United man is due to feature for Colombia at this summer's World Cup after being named in the 23-man preliminary squad following a Ligue 1 spell with Monaco which has returned 39 goals in 54 appearances since season 2016/17.
