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Former motorcycling champion Sito Pons, acquitted by the court of tax fraud

2022-12-21T11:35:47.792Z


The court concludes that he should not be considered a tax resident in Spain between 2010 and 2014 because he lived in Monaco and London


The expilot of motorcycles Sito Pons, in a file image.efe

Sito Pons has received with joy, from his home in London, the news of his acquittal.

He had been waiting for eight months for a sentence that has finally arrived and that threatened his life in freedom.

The Prosecutor's Office requested 24 years in prison for the world motorcycling champion for six crimes of tax fraud.

The Court of Barcelona has acquitted him forcefully.

Against the criteria of the accusation, the judges conclude that between 2010 and 2014 Sito Pons could not be considered a tax resident in Spain but rather in Monaco and the United Kingdom, and stresses that he spent most of the year "traveling around circuits throughout the world ”, according to the resolution.

The current director of Pons Racing - a team that competes in the Moto 2 category of the motorcycle world championship - was one of the targets of the Tax Agency in its campaign to prosecute tax fraud by public figures and elite athletes.

After inquiries into his assets, the Prosecutor's Office sued him in 2016 for the alleged fraud of almost half a million euros in personal income tax.

Later, that amount was raised to 2.7 million euros.

In addition to the prison sentence, the Prosecutor's Office requested the payment of a fine of 12 million on the grounds that he spent more than half the year in Spain and had to pay the personal income tax.

A court investigated the case which, as usually happens in crimes of tax fraud, dragged on to despair.

Last February, after six years of tortuous investigation, the trial was held.

As a rider, Sito Pons was proclaimed 250cc world champion in 1988 and 1999. On the dates under suspicion (from 2010 to 2014) he directed the Pons Racing team, which competed in both the Motorcycle World Championship and the World Series by Renault.

The Prosecutor's Office considers that he managed his company from offices in Castellbisbal (Barcelona) and that, when he went to the competitions, he usually left from El Prat airport.

According to the accusation, renting a home in Monaco - and obtaining a residence permit by the country's authorities - was a setup to avoid paying taxes in Spain, since there are no records, for example, of water or electricity bills. in that house.

The ruling, however, gives full credibility to the statement by Sito Pons, who explained that during this period he traveled around the world and settled first in Monaco and then in London, where he has lived since 2013. The ex-pilot's defense, who The lawyer Miriam Company - from the Molins law firm - has practiced, provided a final judgment of 2011 in which it was said that it was proven that her client was a resident of Monaco to defeat the thesis of the Prosecutor's Office.

As for London, she filed notices of administration at her address in that city.

The Court of Barcelona concludes that "most of the economic interests and financial assets" of Sito Pons, as well as "the core of its economic activity" were concentrated in those years outside of Spain.

The Molins firm has welcomed the resolution and has celebrated that "accusations that, without any foundation, attributed serious tax fraud to it" have been "completely discredited."

Before beginning the trial, Sito Pons had deposited almost three million euros as a guarantee to cover his civil liability in the event of a conviction.

If the sentence is final -it remains to be seen if the Prosecutor's Office or the Tax Agency appeals the resolution- those amounts will be returned.

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Source: elparis

All sports articles on 2022-12-21

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