A Spanish prosecutor's office on Monday announced it had indicted a former Yugoslav football player accused of tax fraud.
According to the prosecutor, the Montenegro-born former star Predrag Mijatovic stands accused of defrauding Spain's tax office of 189,535 euros ($212,636) during the 2011 tax year.
On May 30, Spain's financial crimes prosecution unit had already filed a complaint against Mijatovic at a Madrid court after a report was forwarded to Madrid's provincial prosecutor by the Spanish tax office.
In his 2011 personal tax return statement, Mijatovic declared that his only income was a 50-percent ownership of a tourist property in Mijas (southern Spain).
The prosecution argued that Mijatovic's real income, which he omitted from his tax returns, stemmed from his activities as an intermediary and adviser in the world of professional football.
Mijatovic, popularly known by his nickname "Pedja", started his career at Buducnost, a modest team based in the Montenegrin capital, Podgorica.
He later joined Partizan Belgrade (1989-93), before moving to Spain to play for Valencia (1993-96) and Real Madrid (1996-99).
He won Spain's Footballer of the Year award in the 1995-96 season, scoring 28 goals in 40 league matches.
Real Madrid won the 1997-98 UEFA Champions League for the seventh time after a 32-year hiatus, beating Juventus Turin in May 1998, with Mijatovic scoring the only goal in the final.
He also appeared 73 times for the Yugoslavia national team, scoring 28 goals in total.
In 2004, Mijatovic retired and took up residence in the southeastern city of Valencia.
There, he began his current stint as an unlicensed soccer player's agent and informal intermediary.
--IANS
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