Tennis: liar, fraudster and convicted, former world No.1 Arantxa Sanchez receives a staggering fine of €6.6 million

L'Espagnole Arantxa Sanchez, championne déchue. EFE – Toni Albir

L'Espagnole, reine des courts dans les années 90, échappe à la prison mais voit son compte en banque ruiné après avoir dissimulé des actifs afin d'éviter de payer une dette bancaire.  

Former tennis player Arantxa Sanchez, three times victorious at Roland Garros, was sentenced to two years in prison for hiding assets in order to steal money. avoid paying a bank debt, Spanish justice said on Wednesday.

She will nevertheless avoid prison, the judge having suspended her sentence on the condition that she does not commit any crime during this period.

Joint compensation of 6.6 million euros

Arantxa Sanchez, 52, was sentenced to “two years' imprisonment and a fine” and her ex-husband, Josep Santacana, to 3 years and 3 months in prison, a sentence again accompanied by a fine, declared the High Court of Justice of Catalonia in a press release, at # 39;trial outcome in Barcelona.

The former couple will also have to pay, in respect of civil liability, joint compensation of 6.6 million euros to the Bank of Luxembourg, with which they had a debt he tried to avoid paying. Three other defendants were sentenced to one year and three months in prison, as well as a fine.

Colossal debts

The sentence indicates that "the accused (…) had and always had sufficient assets to meet its debt and that, through acts of sale and evasion of seizure actions, it had prevented recovery. The sentence imposed on her ex-husband is greater because he was the one who managed his wife's property, the decision indicates.

In 2003, the ex-player was ordered to pay some 3.5 million euros in back taxes to the Spanish tax authorities. She claimed to have resided between 1989 and 1993 in Andorra while she lived in Spain.

Former world No.1 in the 1990s, Arantxa Sanchez won, in addition to three Roland-Garros (1989, 1994 and 1998), the US Open in 1994. She was also a finalist twice at the Australian Open and Wimbledon.