Ex-Lyon John Carew was sentenced to 14 months in prison in Norway for tax evasion.

Dear negligence. Former Norwegian football star John Carew, who has prominently played in the leagues in England, France and Spain, was convicted on Wednesday of aggravated tax evasion, an Oslo court said. If his defense pleaded unintentional, the player was still sentenced to 14 months in prison and a fine of 540,000 crowns (about 52,000 euros).

However, there is still no certainty that the former star striker of Olympique Lyonnais and the Norwegian selection will go to prison. According to AFP, the Oslo court explained that the prison services will decide how John Carew will serve his sentence, which is still subject to appeal.

Ex-number 9 was convicted for failing to declare to the Norwegian tax authorities about 12.8 million crowns (about 1.2 million euros) of income between 2014 and 2019, as well as a personal wealth of more than 300 million crowns (29 million euros). , while he was a de facto tax resident in his country.

On a call?

During the relevant period, John Carew declared to the authorities that he was a resident of the United Kingdom and therefore should not pay taxes in Norway. During the trial, prosecutors were able to show that during this period he spent more than 183 days in his country, which makes him a resident of Norway, liable to pay taxes there.

The former football player told the court that he simply followed the advice of his former agent. “The court found that he acted with gross negligence, but not intentionally. We have always said that,” his lawyer, Berit Reiss-Andersen, said in a statement, adding that the latter “wanted to make amends.”

The lawyer also specified that she and her client would read the verdict in detail before a possible appeal.