Yahoo – AFP,
14 may 2014
Lisbon
(AFP) - Portuguese authorities have charged Brazil's national coach Luiz Felipe
Scolari with tax fraud, less than a month before the World Cup starts, a
prosecution spokesman told AFP on Wednesday.
Investigators
said they have asked the United States, Britain, the Netherlands and Brazil for
assistance in the case.
Scolari is
accused of hiding about seven million euros ($9.6 million) in income when he
was Portugal's coach between 2003 and 2008, according to media reports.
He has
denied any wrongdoing. But the inquiry threatens to taint Brazil's preparations
to host the World Cup, which starts on June 12.
Scolari
coached Brazil to their World Cup triumph in 2002 and has returned to the
national side for the campaign on home territory which they are favourites to
win.
Portugal
reached the final of Euro 2004 as hosts and the World Cup semi-finals in 2006
when Scolari was in charge.
The
Portuguese inquiry is being carried out by the Central Department for Criminal
Investigations and Penal Action (DCIAP).
The
department, an arm of the Prosecutor General's office, confirmed in a statement
that "Luiz Felipe Scolari stands accused in an investigation."
"This
probe is investigating happenings dating back to the period between 2003 and
2008 and is related to eventual fiscal infractions," it added.
"In
the course of these investigations, international assistance was requested from
the Netherlands, Britain, Brazil and the United States. The request to the USA
is still to be answered."
The
statement did not give a figure for the alleged fraud and said
"investigations are ongoing."
Scolari,
65, has made a personal fortune from his work with Brazil and Portugal but also
as a club manager with teams such as Chelsea.
Scolari has
also worked as a coach in Japan, Kuwait and Uzbekistan.
Dutch
newspaper Financieele Dagblad said Scolari received money from two Netherlands-based
companies, Chaterella Investors Limited and Flamboyants Sports.
Portugal
has asked US authorities for assistance in the inquiry as the money was
believed to have been transferred to the United States, the Dutch daily added.
Financieele
Dagblad said that Scolari transferred money through companies based in the
Bahamas and other tax havens.
"I
made all my income tax declarations correctly," Scolari said in a
statement in reaction to the press reports.
"I
always declared my earnings in all the countries I worked in," he
insisted.
"I am
absolutely convinced of the correctness of my declarations.
"If
there is something wrong it is not of my doing," said Scolari, who invited
the authorities to look into "all the facts."
The Brazilian
Football Confederation (CBF) have yet to comment on the case, which has been
given widespread attention in Brazil.
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