BREAKING: Former Premier League footballer jailed for tax fraud

A FORMER Premier League footballer has been jailed for tax fraud offences, as reported on Wednesday, November 16.

Former Premier League footballer John Carew, who played for Aston Villa, Stoke City and West Ham, has been jailed after a court in Norway found him guilty of tax fraud.

The former Valencia forward was sentenced to one year and two months in prison in regard to charges of tax evasion.

The 43-year-old was accused of defrauding a total of NOK 5.4 million (€520,000) and alongside the prison sentence, Carew was also fined NOK 540,000 (€52,000).

Carew admitted to all the charges against him, however, he denied doing it on purpose.

Lawyers for the former Norwegian international, who scored 24 goals for his country, said that the case should have been handled as a confession.

“After his unqualified confession, the case should have gone as a confession case, which is also emphasised in the sentence, without all the unnecessary use of public resources that the case has caused to society and the public burden this has caused to John Carew,” a statement from Carew’s defence lawyer, Berit Reiss-Andersen, read.

According to Reiss-Andersen, although the lesser sentence appears to be a reflection that Carew did not act with intent, the sentence from the Økokrim (Norwegian National Authority for the Investigation and Prosecution of Economic and Environmental Crime) was still an overreaction.

Carew is accused of avoiding taxes between 2017 and 2019.

For the intentional act of tax evasion in Norway, Carew could have received a prison sentence of 2 years and 7 months.

Earlier this year, another sportsman was jailed for fraud.

On Friday, 29, April, tennis legend Boris Becker was sentenced to two years and six months in jail for bankruptcy fraud

Thank you for taking the time to read this article, do remember to come back and check The Euro Weekly News website for all your up-to-date local and international news stories and remember, you can also follow us on Facebook and Instagram.