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Former Chelsea striker Diego Costa is reportedly set to stand trial on charges of tax fraud in Spain next week.

The 31-year-old has been accused of failing to pay more than €1 million (£813,000) worth of taxes.

Costa is alleged to have not declared €5.15m (£4.19m) of total payments received when joining Chelsea in 2014, as well as €1m in image rights.

According to the Evening Standard, prosecutors are pushing for Costa to be put behind bars for a six-month period.

Such charges in Spain can be punished by a sentence in prison if the defendant is found guilty, though Costa is unlikely to be sent to jail.

If found guilty, Costa could pay an increased fine to avoid jail time.

As it stands he is already facing a fine of €507,208 (£457,128), which could be upped by a further €36,500 (£32,896).

Barcelona star Lionel Messi was previously convicted of tax fraud and handed a 21-month prison sentence, which was later reduced to a fine.

Cristiano Ronaldo also struck a similar deal with the Spanish courts during his time at Real Madrid which saw him pay a €19million fine.

Costa moved to Chelsea for a fee of £32million from Atletico Madrid, to whom he has since returned.

He has made 19 appearances so far this season, including both legs of their Champions League last-16 victory against Liverpool.

His future at the Wanda Metropolitano could be in doubt though, as Napoli are demanding he be included in a player-plus-cash deal that would see Arkadiusz Milik go the other way.

Costa is officially due to appear in court on June 4 – just a week before the La Liga season is due to resume again following the coronavirus outbreak.

Atletico are currently sixth in the table, but just two points separates them and Sevilla in third.

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One year and two days after being crowned a national champion, former UW Oshkosh men’s basketball player Connor Duax was charged with two counts of theft for stealing and reselling merchandise from the university bookstore.

In May and December 2019, Duax allegedly stole books from University Books & More and sold them back during textbook buyback for $2,053.75, according to the March 18 criminal complaint.

Duax, 21, was a key player down the stretch during UWO’s championship run, averaging 15.5 points per game over the final six games — including the March 16, 2019 national title game against Swarthmore College.

He was dismissed from the basketball team after starting eight games in the beginning of the year, and according to UWO Director of Marketing and Communications Peggy Breister, he is no longer enrolled at UWO.

If convicted, Duax could face nine months in prison and fines up to $10,000 for each misdemeanor count. However, on May 18, Duax and Winnebago County signed a Deferred Adjudication Agreement that will avoid taking the case to trial. Under the agreement, Duax must plead no contest or guilty to both counts of theft.

Additionally, he must not engage in criminal conduct, pay $8,876.53 in restitution fees, provide proof of full-time employment each month, write a letter of apology and have no contact with UWO or the university bookstore.

The charges will be dismissed if Duax complies with the conditions of the agreement, but if he fails to do so, the agreement will be terminated and he will be brought before the court for sentencing.

According to court documents:

On Dec. 10, 2019, UWO Police Department Detective Mike Bartlein was informed of “suspicious activity occurring at the end of the semester book buy-back event” by Kathleen K. Kaltenbach, the manager of the UWO bookstore.

Kaltenbach told Bartlein that Duax had sold multiple copies of the same book and books from classes he wasn’t enrolled in.

Kaltenbach and bookstore staff member Nikki Stoll provided Bartlein with a printout of all the books that Duax sold during textbook buyback, which included 23 books for $799.

Of the 23 books, four were duplicates and most were for classes Duax wasn’t in, including an interim class that hadn’t been offered yet.

Additionally, the bookstore found that Duax only purchased one book from the bookstore during the Fall 2019 semester.

Bartlein received documents from the May 2019 textbook buyback, which showed that Duax had sold 26 books for $1,254.

In reviewing the books sold in May, Bartlein found that the books sold did not match any of the classes Duax had enrolled in.

Kaltenbach told Bartlein that an audit of the books Duax sold during the textbook buyback corresponded to an inventory shortage at the UWO bookstore.

Afterward, Kaltenbach provided Bartlein with a record of Duax’s Spring and Fall 2018 textbook buyback transactions, “which raised similar concerns.”

On Dec. 11, 2019, Bartlein met with Duax at the UWOPD headquarters. During the meeting, Bartlein told Duax that he knew about the books returned during the December buyback.

He asked Duax if he had sold all of the books in his possession. Duax replied that he returned the books for someone else and did not have any more books.

Bartlein asked Duax why he was selling stolen books to the bookstore. Duax said he met someone named “Jacob” his freshman year and that “Jacob” runs a scheme where he receives stolen books and has students return them for him.

Duax told Bartlein that after he sold the books “Jacob” paid him $50. In addition, Duax said he thought “Jacob’s” last name started with an “L,” and that he usually communicated with “Jacob” via text messages.

When Bartlein asked to see the text messages, Duax replied that “Jacob” makes him erase the messages.

Bartlein then asked if video footage from the bookstore would show Duax stealing books, to which Duax admitted to stealing fewer than 10 books two to three times.

Duax told Bartlein that he stole one book two to three times in May 2019, and two to three times in December 2019, adding the remaining books came from “Jacob.”

After meeting with Duax, Bartlein worked to trace the phone number that Duax had given him for “Jacob.”

Bartlein found that the number belonged to a Jacob in Duax’s hometown, who had never been enrolled at UWO.

That same night, Bartlein emailed Duax his findings and Duax admitted that he lied about “Jacob.”

Then, on Jan. 13, 2020, the bookstore told UWOPD Officer Ashley Fick that they had received a call from an anonymous male who said he found two bags of books.

Fick called the male back, and the male said he had given the books to a man from his church named “Justin.”

Fick and Sgt. Chance Duenkel eventually met with “Justin” and received the books. After reviewing the two bags of books, Fick found a piece of paper in a textbook about Charles Darwin.

The paper was an assignment, and it had the name “Connor” written across the top, along with names of known associates of Duax.

Fick then confirmed that Duax had been enrolled in the class that required the Darwin book, before receiving confirmation from the bookstore that Duax had not purchased the book.

UW Oshkosh declined to comment on the case.

Editor’s Note: Additional reporting provided by Neal Hogden

Updated

May 10, 2018 10:48:14

Former Gold Coast Titans and Brisbane Broncos player Steve Michaels has been committed to stand trial over a cocaine scandal that rocked the NRL, after he allegedly dealt cocaine to himself and others at various Gold Coast suburbs, a court has heard.

The 31-year-old was playing for the Titans when more than six past and present players were swept up in a Crime and Corruption Commission (CCC) investigation that included codehopper Karmichael Hunt.

Mr Michaels appeared at Southport Magistrates Court where he was committed to stand trial on 10 charges of supplying cocaine during the 2014 season.

The court heard Mr Michaels lives at Mermaid Beach and works in Brisbane.

The other players at the centre of the allegations have already had their matters dealt with, but Mr Michaels spent two years playing football overseas and returned to Australia last November.

Lawyer Campbell MacCallum said Mr Michaels was in England before he was charged.

“[Mr Michaels] handed himself in on his return,” Mr MacCallum said.

Mr Michaels did not enter a plea and will face trial in the District Court at a later date.

The court heard two of the witness statements tendered to the court were from Queensland Reds player Karmichael Hunt, who is a former Bronco and was with the Gold Coast Suns when he was caught up in the CCC sting.

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First posted

May 10, 2018 10:46:47

A judge in Puerto Rico has said there is not enough evidence to charge a former US Olympic volleyball player in the 2016 death of her young daughter.

Authorities said on Friday that 2008 silver medalist Kim Willoughby, 37, had been accused of murder and child abuse

However, Judge María del Pilar Vázque declared on Friday that there was no cause for trial despite the charges. 

A former US Olympic volleyball player has been charged by police in Puerto Rico in the 2016 death of her young daughter.

At the moment, it is unclear if prosecutor Esteban Miranda will appeal the decision.  

In March 2016, Willoughby was allegedly searching for a towel around 9:45am when her three-year-old daughter, Kailia, slipped and hit her head, according to a police report.

CPR was performed, but the toddler was pronounced dead upon her arrival at the Medical Center of Mayagüez.  

During the investigation, it was found that the blows she suffered were incompatible with the alleged fall.

‘The Forensic Science report showed that the cause of death was not compatible with a fall. On the contrary, the cause of death was a severe corporal blow,’ said Commander Janice Rodríguez, of the Criminal Investigation Body of Mayagüez. 

Willoughby was a member of the US Olympic team that took home the silver medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics after losing to Brazil in the finals.

Afterwards, she moved to Italy to continue her professional career. She tested positive for nandrolone – a steroid – after a match for her Italian team, Perugia, in April 2009.

In September 2009, it was announced that Willoughby was given a two-year suspension from the Italian Olympic Committee, to end in July 2011, reported the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.

Following that, Willoughby moved to Puerto Rico to play for various teams in the Puerto Rican league. She is currently a member of the Indias de Mayagüez.

This is not Willoughby’s first run-in with the law.

In June 2001, Honolulu police charged her with abuse of a family or household member and third-degree assault, both misdemeanors. One month later, Willoughby entered deferred guilty pleas to both charges.

Five days after police charged Willoughby in the case, the victim filed for a temporary restraining order against her, leading a judge to issue a three-year protective order.

In September 2008, she was arrested for assaulting a woman outside a Honolulu night club in December 2006.

Willoughby allegedly got into an altercation with Sara Daniel at the Pipeline Cafe in Kakaako, causing severe bone fractures to Daniel’s face. 

Willoughby claimed self-defense, but prosecutor Sherri Chun disagreed, saying: ‘This incident was not self-defense. [Willoughby] followed [Daniel] out of the club, and that’s when this all happened.’

The volleyball star pleaded no contest in a plea agreement with the state and was sentenced to five years’ probation. In January 2012, she was granted an early end to her probation. 

LONDON — Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has refused to back down from his recent criticism of Premier League referees.

Wenger also claimed Eden Hazard should have been booked for a dive in the incident that saw Chelsea awarded a penalty in their 2-2 draw at the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday.

The manager has hit out at what he perceives to be falling standards in Premier League refereeing and said he was “shocked” to be charged by the Football Association over an alleged confrontation with Mike Dean following Sunday’s draw at West Brom.

Wenger was incensed by a late penalty decision in that game and then called Chelsea’s penalty at the Emirates “farcical.”

He has been asked by the FA to provide observations about those comments.

But speaking at a news conference ahead of the FA Cup match against Nottingham Forest, he said: “I maintain what I said in the press conference 100 percent, and I have nothing to change in that.

“I’m in England for 21 years, I try to serve this game with honesty and integrity and when I have something to say I will say it. On that front, nothing will change. Never.

“I think it was a yellow card for Hazard, 100 percent. But I have a right to have my opinion and I respect everybody’s opinion.”

Wenger also admitted that Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere may have dived in a second-half incident that some pundits felt warranted a second yellow card for the midfielder.

“Yes, maybe he did,” he said. “But why should that change my opinion on the penalty? Nothing to do with it. Every situation is different.”

Wenger said he had not requested a personal FA hearing to plead his case after being charged, having said after the Chelsea game that he would contest it.

However, he did not confirm on Friday whether he would contest the charge or admit it in order to get a reduced touchline ban.

“At the moment, I’m focused on football,” he said. “If you imagine that I’m 21 years in the game, and what I’ve seen and heard in the corridors from people, you can quite understand that I’m surprised and shocked by having been charged.”

Martin Rickett/PA Images via Getty Images

The Arsenal manager said he had the right to demand a higher standard of refereeing after having led calls for Premier League officials to become full-time.

“We can talk and talk,” he said. “At the end of the day, we always spend time on talking about things that are not really important in the game.

“What we want is to see big football games, we have big players on the football pitch, and you want them to be refereed by top-quality people.

“And I think I contributed a lot to give referees a great opportunity to be at their best because I had a huge influence on the fact that they became professional.

“I believe I had more of a positive influence on that, and that’s why I can as well be demanding. That’s what I want from them is to be at their top. And I’m quite surprised that that is shocking.”

An FA touchline ban could see Wenger miss both Sunday’s FA Cup game and the first leg of the Carabao Cup semifinal against Chelsea on Wednesday.

But having been invited to his former Monaco player George Weah’s presidential inauguration in Liberia, he said: “Maybe if I’m suspended I will have time to go.”

Source: espn.co.uk

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PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – A man charged in connection with an alleged rape on New Year’s Eve last year will stand trial.

Ibrahima Kouyate, 19, appeared in court Wednesday morning for a preliminary hearing, where he was held for trial.

Kouyate is facing charges of first-degree felony counts of rape and involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, along with a second-degree felony count of sexual assault.

The alleged incident took place at a 2016-17 New Year’s Eve party in a hotel on Baum Boulevard.

According to the criminal complaint, the alleged victim said she had met Kouyate previously. She claimed she was directed to another room by Kouyate, and he closed the door so her friends couldn’t enter.

She said she was forced to have sex with him, against her will and without her consent, investigators said.

The defense claims the encounter was consensual.

“I mean let’s think about this. They’re in a one-bedroom hotel room. There’s 13 of them, and at no time does anyone knock or say is anything wrong or anything like that,” said defense attorney Blaine Jones. “There’s ample opportunity to yell, to scream, to leave, and none of that happen, so I think there’s some issues with her credibility and what she testified to today, and that was our goal.”

Jones also says Kouyate and the alleged victim had been texting before the party.

Kouyate attended the Barack Obama Academy of International Studies in East Liberty, where he was a four-year letter winner in soccer. He then went to Penn State, where he played in six matches during his freshman year.