PARIS: The homes of Paris Saint-Germain players Angel Di Maria and Javier Pastore were searched on Tuesday morning by French anti-corruption officers, in the latest tax fraud probe to rock the football industry. According to reports by the French investigative news site Mediapart, the players are being investigated in connection with the probe into the use of tax havens to hide earnings from the marketing of image rights. It’s understood PSG’s offices have similarly been searched as part of the investigation. Details of the players’ contracts appear to reveal they had avoided taxes by using offshore arrangements to receive payments related to their so-called image rights. France’s National Financial Prosecutors’ office launched the probe into PSG and its players last December after the “Football Leaks” of 18 million documents revealed the widespread alleged corruption at the heart of football.
According to the leaked documents, PSG signed a contract with an offshore company in Panama through which it took a share of the player’s earnings, although the club told the paper it had never received a commission from any tax haven company. The ‘Football Leaks’ scandal has already engulfed football legends Cristiano Ronaldo and Jose Mourinho. The pair are accused of dodging millions of dollars of tax by channelling money to offshore tax havens, such as the British Virgin Island, aided by their agent. Jorge Mendes, via his company Gestifute. Last month, French prosecutors alongside HM Revenue & Customs were involved in a raid of Premier League clubs Newscastle and West Ham following allegation of tax fraud relating to transfer deals with French club Marseille.
