Ex-Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has avoided jail for tax fraud as part of a deal with Spanish prosecutors revealed Tuesday but will pay a fine of close to two million euros.
The 56-year-old is accused of committing tax fraud in 2011 and 2012 when he coached Spanish giants Real Madrid.
According to the agreement seen by AFP, Mourinho accepted a one-year jail sentence immediately commuted to a fine of 182,500 euros.
Jose Mourinho has accepted a one-year prison sentence in Spain.
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) February 5, 2019
He is unlikely to spend any time in prison.
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The Portuguese coach will also have to pay an additional penalty of 1.98m euros ($2.3 million).
Mourinho, sacked by Manchester United in December following a string of disappointing performances, is the latest high-profile football figure to be judged over his tax affairs in Spain.
Spanish prosecutors accuse Mourinho, who coached Real Madrid between 2010 and 2013, of failing to declare income of 1.6 million euros in 2011 and 1.7 million euros in 2012.
BREAKING: Jose Mourinho accepts one-year prison sentence for tax fraud in Spain but will not serve time in jail. #SSN pic.twitter.com/GnkxdZapGT
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) February 5, 2019
The grounds for the case, as with a series of football stars based in Spain, is how income from Mourinho's image rights was managed and declared.
Prosecutors believe by ceding his image rights to a series of companies based in tax havens, Mourinho committed fraud by not declaring the income those companies made from his image rights.
