The judge at a federal court in Rio de Janeiro on Friday found Barcelona star Neymar guilty of tax fraud for failure to report earnings from his contracts with Santos, Barcelona, and Nike, and ordered him to pay 188.8 million Brazilian reals ($52.1m, €45.9m) in fines and back-taxes, according to Brazil newspaper Folha de S. Paulo.
Neymar can appeal the ruling. According to the court documents, Neymar used his businesses (Neymar Sport e Marketing, N & N Consultoria, N & N Administracao de Bens) to avoid paying €56.4m ($63.5m) between 2012 and 2014.
The judges examining the case allege that false contracts were created to avoid paying the full taxes. The court last year froze assets related to Neymar valued at about 189 million Brazilian reals ($48m, €42m) because of the allegations of tax evasion.
"We studied the information regarding the tax case in question, Neymar, the three businesses and his business partners [parents of the player] and we found that there were fraudulent business practices," wrote Develly Claudia Montez, who performed the audit for the court.
Neymar is also under investigation in Spanish court over his transfer from Santos to Barcelona in 2013. Earlier this year he testified in court along with his father and the former and current Barcelona presidents. Neymar had been fined earlier over unpaid taxes in Brazil and the decision was pending appeal.