Sanchez Vicario blames ex-husband as fraud trial starts

Former Spanish tennis nice Arantxa Sanchez Vicario advised a courtroom on Tuesday in the beginning of a fraud trial that she had trusted her then-husband to deal with her cash and he or she was not conscious of any unlawful tampering along with her household belongings.

Sanchez Vicario, 51, and her former husband Josep Santacana stand accused of hiding belongings to keep away from paying a 7.6 million-euro ($8.14 million) debt to Banque de Luxembourg, together with curiosity, in response to the prosecutor.

The two, who divorced in 2019, deny the fees. They might resist 4 years in jail if convicted and be chargeable for hundreds of thousands of euros in compensation.

“I did what he told me to do, because I am a tennis player, I have no knowledge of assets or companies or anything. I trusted my husband,” she advised the courtroom in Barcelona, sobbing at instances.

She stated she solely grew to become conscious of the seriousness of the scenario later and confronted her husband, who “acknowledged the facts”. She advised the courtroom she had already paid round 1.9 million euros to the financial institution and dedicated to paying half of her revenue.

Josep Santacana, ex-husband of former Spanish tennis participant Arantxa Sanchez.
| Photo Credit:
AFP

Sanchez Vicario was the primary Spanish participant to succeed in the highest of ladies’s tennis rankings. She gained the French Open thrice and the U.S. Open as a singles participant earlier than retiring in 2002.

In an interview with El Pais day by day on Sunday, she stated her mistake was “falling in love” and trusting her husband.

She additionally stated she had no cash to assist her youngsters and needed to depend on monetary assist from her buddies.

However, Santacana advised La Vanguardia newspaper in an interview printed on Tuesday he was not the one accountable, and that Sanchez Vicario’s mistake was not falling in love with him, however not paying her taxes and never being accountable to her household.

“I just expect the truth to be told and this to be over,” Santacana advised reporters outdoors the courtroom, the place he’s but to be heard. His lawyer declined to remark.

Sanchez Vicario was ordered in 2009 by the Supreme Court to pay a 5.2 million euro wonderful for tax fraud.

The ruling lined the interval between 1989 and 1993 when, in response to the courtroom ruling, Sanchez Vicario was resident in Spain quite than Andorra as she had claimed.

After the couple transferred their belongings from Banque de Luxembourg, the Spanish state ultimately collected the cash from the financial institution by way of a assure settlement.

The financial institution accused the couple of by no means honouring their debt and concealing their belongings. In a civil go well with in 2014, a Spanish courtroom dominated in favour of the financial institution however the cash was by no means paid, so the financial institution resorted to the felony courts.