Yahoo - AFP,
October 22, 2014
Rome (AFP)
- Italy's World Cup winning captain Fabio Cannavaro is being investigated on
suspicion of running a sham company to avoid paying more than a million euros
($1.27 million) in tax, Italian authorities announced Wednesday.
 |
Italy World
Cup hero Cannavaro probed
over tax fraud
|
The former
centreback, who led Italy to glory in Germany in 2006, has had property and
other assets worth 900,000 euros confiscated in connection with an ongoing
probe into a luxury boat rental business that Cannavaro, 41, ran with his wife.
In a
statement, prosecutors in Cannavaro's home city of Naples, said they suspected
that three multi-million-euro vessels supposedly available for rental through
the company were in fact exclusively for the couple's private use.
As such,
Cannavaro and his wife, Daniela Arenoso, 40, should have declared them as taxable
assets and not been able to benefit from the various tax breaks for which only
companies are eligible.
Tax
inspectors have estimated that the operation of what was effectively a sham
company, FD Service, enabled the couple to avoid more than one million euros in
taxes and VAT between 2005 and 2010.
The
prosecutors said that they had obtained evidence of Cannavaro's direct
involvement in the fraud and of other, unspecified, illegal actions in relation
to the company.
Also under
investigation is Eugenio Tuccillo, described by prosecutors as an individual of
limited means to whom Cannavaro sold the business shortly after the opening of
the tax probe.
Almost
immediately after taking over, Tuccillo put the company into administration in
what inspectors suspect was an attempt to hide the fraud.
A
national sport
In an
illustrious playing career, Cannavaro played for Napoli, Parma, Internazionale,
Juventus and Real Madrid before a final stint with Al-Ahli in Dubai, where he
is currently assistant coach.
His
movie-star looks, 136 caps and rise from the back streets of Naples to the
summit of world football have made him a national icon in Italy, a country that
prizes defenders like no other.
Famed for
being as tough on the pitch as the teak on one of his boats, Cannavaro had,
until now, also enjoyed a squeaky-clean image as a family man.
The latest
revelations may not sully that reputation too much as tax dodging is often
referred to as the second national sport in Italy.
Numerous
high-profile figures have been accused of cheating on their returns.
A
government report published last month estimated that tax evasion currently
costs the state 91 billion euros per year, equivalent to six percent of the
country's annual output.
News of the
allegations against Cannavaro emerged a day after the financial police
announced they had broken up a ring of companies they believe used false
accounting to defraud the state out of 1.7 billion euros ($2.2 billion).
Prime
Minister Matteo Renzi has promised a crackdown on tax dodgers and has vowed to
end the country's tradition of regular amnesties for offenders as part of
broader package of reforms intended to make the country easier to govern, more
business-friendly and stronger financially.
Well-known
names who have been previously accused or convicted of illegal tax evasion
include fashion designers Giorgio Armani, Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana.
Former
prime minister Silvio Berlusconi is currently doing community service in a
retirement home as his punishment after being convicted of tax fraud.
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