5 players you didn't know were accused of tax fraud

#2 Javier Mascherano

Another Barcelona player to be accused of tax fraud is Javier Mascherano

Javier Mascherano was accused of not paying nearly $1.6m in taxes in 2011 and 2012. The player admitted his guilt in court.

The Argentina international was accused of not declaring his earnings on his image rights in 2011 and 2012, through companies set up in the United States and Portugal.

The Spanish tax law allows a player to sell up to 15% of his image rights to a company. However, the tax authorities claimed that the player did not pay the taxes on the income which he earned through image rights.

Mascherano was given a one-year prison time and was also fined $850,000. The player was also prevented from receiving any tax benefits for one year.

However, according to Spanish laws, the player did not face any jail time because the sentence was less than 24 months and Mascherano was a first-time offender.