Neymar was accused of not paying $16 million in taxes between 2011 and 2013, when he transferred from the Santos football club to Barcelona, according to the Santos prosecutor's office for Brazilian tax authorities.
A Brazilian court has frozen nearly $48 million in assets for security reasons and to cover potential interest and fines, according to a judicial order explaining the breakdown.
Brazilian court has accused international football star, Neymar, of evading millions of dollars in taxes. Now the Barcelona forward could face fines worth even more than that.
Judge Carlos Muta accused the 23-year-old of excluding sources of income from abroad. Barcelona Football Club was cited as the source of unrecorded money.
Judge Carlos Muta said Neymar only declared assets worth almost $5 million.
Neymar earns around $61 million playing for the Barcelona football club, but the bulk of his assets are in Brazil and held between him and his family.
The player will still have access to his bank accounts and liquid assets, but will not be able to sell any of his assets before the case comes to a close.
According to Jung Martins, an auditor for Brazil's federal tax agency, Neymar isn't likely to go to jail if he pays what he owes.
"He will be able to discuss the frozen assets in a civil court," Martins told The Associated Press.
"But legislation in Brazil isn't too harsh. If Neymar pays what he owes, he is very likely to be free from any other punishment."
This is not the first time that Neymar has been involved in a tax relevant scandal.
Last 2014, Barcelona Football Club president, Sandro Rosell resigned after the following accusations that he had failed to released the full amount of Neymar’s transfer to the Spanish club from his previous Brazilian team, Santos.
https://edition.cnn.com/2015/09/25/football/brazil-neymar-tax-evasion-investigation/index.html
https://www.cbc.ca/sports/soccer/neymar-barcelona-star-striker-has-assets-frozen-by-brazilian-court-1.3244877
