Brazil court freezes £31.3m worth assets belonging to Neymar for Tax evasion

£31.3m worth of Neymar’s assets have been frozen by a Sao Paulo court

Neymar has £31.3m of assets frozen by Sao Paulo court over alleged tax evasion for £10.5m. According to the Guardian, the time of the alleged fraud is believed to be before the Brazil captain signed for Spanish Champions Barcelona.

The presiding Judge Carlos Muta blamed Neymar for the incident stating, “(Neymar) is solely responsible for the income declaration.” Muta froze 23-year-old’s assets, his family and related businesses that are valued at a massive 188.8m Brazilian reals that can be roughly calculated to £31.3m even though Neymar has allegedly evaded just 63m reals (£10.5m) in Brazil.

The former Santos player is accused of not paying the correct taxes between 2011 and 2013 for amounts that account to £10.5m. The amount that has been frozen is three times the original account to cover potential interest and fines and for security reasons the judge explained.

All of Neymar’s assets apart from liquid assets have been frozen

The judgment stops Neymar from selling off any assets before the case is finalized. He will, however, have access to all his bank accounts and other liquid assets.

All the assets that have been frozen are in the name of Neymar and three companies where the owners are the player and his father.

Barcelona secured the services of Neymar for a rumored €57.1m, but later Josep Maria Bartomeu admitted that the total fee accounted for somewhere close to €86.2m. Bartomeu’s predecessor Rossell had to resign following the allegations of tax fraud during the transfer.

Federal prosecutors had ordered an audit of all assets that Neymar owned on the 7^th of April and that of his father Neymar Santos Silva on suspicion of tax fraud. On June 6^th, it was initially reported that the footballer was finally under investigation for the same.

Neymar’s agent refused to comment on the topic immediately but promised to comment later when approached by the Press.