who has inflicted similar damage on from zgr123's blog
LISBON, Portugal -- Brazil coach Luiz Felipe Scolari is under criminal investigation in Portugal for suspected tax fraud and money laundering, according to U. James Conner Womens Jersey .S. court documents obtained Wednesday by The Associated Press. Portuguese tax authorities suspect 7.4 million euros ($10.1 million) that was transferred from Portugal to a bank in Miami between 2003 and 2008, when Scolari was coach of Portugals national team, were local income that the Brazilian did not declare. A U.S. district judge last week granted Portugals request for a series of Miami bank accounts to be examined, Florida court documents show. An assistant U.S. attorney was placed in charge of collecting the evidence. Taxe fraud and money laundering together carry a maximum penalty of 17 years in prison in Portugal, and the investigation is an unwelcome distraction for the Brazil coach as his country prepares to host the World Cup. The 65-year-old Scolari denied any wrongdoing after the court documents were first reported Monday by OffshoreAlert, a Florida-based site specializing in fraud investigations. "I have correctly filed all my tax returns. In all the countries where Ive worked, Ive always declared my income," Scolari said in a statement sent to the AP in Sao Paulo late Tuesday. "If anything is wrong, its not my fault. I hope justice gets to the bottom of the facts." Officials at the Portuguese Football Federation, which employed Scolari as national team coach, did not immediately reply to a request for comment. FIFA had no comment on the investigation. FIFAs code of ethics can be applied to conduct "that damages the integrity and reputation of football and in particular to illegal, immoral and unethical behaviour." Sanctions for breaching the code range from a warning to a ban from any football-related activity. Portuguese investigators want to know who were the "real beneficiaries" of numerous payments made into the Miami accounts over the six-year period. The money went to accounts held by Netherlands-based Flamboyant Sports C.V., London-based Chaterella Investors Limited and Taliston Financial Corp., a British Virgin Islands company, according to prosecutors. Those companies owned, at various times, non-exclusive rights to the use of Scolaris name, image and voice, they say. Transfers were also made to Miami accounts in the name of Scolari himself and of his son Leonardo. The investigators suspect Scolari used those companies and bank accounts to hide income from the Portuguese tax authorities. Portuguese investigators sent their initial request for assistance to the U.S. Justice Department in Washington in late 2012. It was not clear why the request was submitted to a judge only last week. The judge endorsed the request last Thursday. The Portuguese attorney generals office acknowledged in an email to the AP that the Department for Criminal Investigation and Prosecution has opened an inquiry into Scolari, but it provided no further details. In Portugal, ongoing investigations are subject to a judicial secrecy law which forbids the release of details of the case. Scolari, who is Brazilian, led his countrys national team to the World Cup title in 2002. He will again coach the Brazilian team at this years World Cup. He has also coached in Japan and the Middle East. He was coach of Premier League club Chelsea between 2008-09. Scolari was Portugals most successful national team coach. He guided the Portuguese to the final of the 2004 European Championship and to the semifinals of the 2006 World Cup. Along the way, he gave Cristiano Ronaldo his national team debut and made him captain. To help pay the salary of a World Cup-winning coach -- and to prevent him from being poached by other clubs and countries which offered him contracts, including England -- the Portuguese federation signed multimillion-dollar sponsorship deals, including with Nike and two Portuguese banks. Scolari, whose salary in Portugal was never made public, appeared in advertising campaigns. Portugals government has set up special investigative teams and increased penalties in an effort to crack down on tax evasion. The country needed a 78 billion euro ($107 billion) bailout in 2011 after high debts pushed it to the brink of bankruptcy. In neighbouring Spain, where authorities have also targeted tax evaders, officials have brought tax fraud charges against Lionel Messi and his club, Barcelona. ------ AP Sports Writers Tales Azzoni in Sao Paulo and Graham Dunbar in Geneva, and Associated Press writers Alan Clendenning in Madrid, Spain, and Curt Anderson in Miami contributed to this report. JuJu Smith-Schuster Jersey . City has reached new heights under manager Manuel Pellegrini as they transition from big spending/immediate impact to perennial contender. Yaya Toures seeming discontent Tuesday may complicate that, as does the little issue of Financial Fair Play. Cameron Sutton Steelers Jersey . Chile applied pressure in midfield right from the beginning, challenging aggressively and continually surging forward. Eduardo Vargas beat the offside trap and fired home a stinging shot for Chiles opening goal in the fifth minute.Its being reported that embattled Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling (yes hes still the owner) has hired four private investigation firms to dig up "dirt" on the NBA owners, as well as the past Commissioner David Stern and current Commissioner Adam Silver. Sterling has retained investigators as part of his overall litigation strategy. Recently, he filed a lawsuit against the NBA in response to his lifetime ban and his forced sale of the team. Part of that lawsuit alleges breach of contract. He is alleging that the NBA did not follow its own rules when it imposed its very dramatic and unprecedented punishments on him. To support that argument, he wants to be able to point to instances where the league took a much softer approach against other owners who may have committed transgressions of their own. Ultimately, Sterling wants to show that the leagues application of the NBA Constitution and its rules has been wholly inconsistent and that he was unfairly and too harshly treated. The NBA will of course argue that it has not breached its rules and that no other owner has ever said or done anything that has so profoundly and adversely impaacted the league, its reputation and goodwill. James Conner Youth Jersey. Remember the NBA will focus on the impact of Sterlings statements and not what he said. In light of this distinction, Sterling will have a difficult time finding an owner who has inflicted similar damage on the league. Of course, this investigation reminds us that Sterling is looking to embarrass the league. His lawsuit will give Sterling the opportunity to depose Silver, Stern and a number of owners all with a view to getting the league to air its dirty laundry. In part, he may hope that the pressure of litigation and disclosure under oath may encourage the NBA to lift its lifetime ban and let him keep his team. Will that happen? At the outset, the NBA would have mapped out all possible consequences of forcing Sterling to sell his team, and litigation would have been at the top of that list. The league is prepared to litigate and may sue him right back for interfering with the sale of the team and the business of the league. The NBA is not going anywhere and it will fight. The NBA also knows that Sterling has serious credibility issues. And that is buying the league time with its fans. 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