A Court in Barcelona on Wednesday condemned former Spanish tennis star Arantxa Sanchez Vicario to two years in prison for plotting to avoid paying a debt of over six million euros to the Bank of Luxembourg.
The 52-year-old former world No. 1, who won 14 grand slam tournaments (four singles, six in women's doubles and four in mixed doubles) will avoid prison after reaching an agreement with prosecutors for a reduced sentence in exchange for confessing to the crime, and as long as she does not reoffend within a period of two years and pays compensation.
However, Sanchez Vicario's former husband, Josep Santacana was sentenced to three years and three months in jail for the offences.
In passing his sentence, the Judge considered the former tennis star "had at all times sufficient assets to cover the debt," which she had avoided paying, although he also concluded that her former husband had concocted the plan to avoid payment.
Sanchez Vicario had previously insisted she had "no knowledge related to the management of assets, and that she has always entrusted it to third parties, first to her parents, and after her marriage."
This is not the first legal problem the former player has had, as she was previously fined for tax avoidance, after stating her residence was Andorra, while actually spending more than the permitted amount of time in Spain.
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