The dispute has been public since June last year, when the Spanish tax authorities placed Sito Pons on the list of people owing him more than a million euros.
Sito Pons is accused of having lived in Barcelona in 2010 and from 2012 to 2014, and therefore having to pay his taxes there, even though the person concerned declared that he lives mainly in London between races, where he pays his taxes.
Another point of contention, the tax authorities accuse him of being the real owner of the Pons Racing structure, mainly involved in motorcycle Grands Prix and in World Series by Renault, while this one would hide behind a network of shell companies, some of which are in tax havens.
Showing the greatest severity, the Spanish tax authorities are therefore demanding, for all six offenses, a sentence of 24 years in prison, a fine of 12 euros, and the restitution of the 450 million allegedly defrauded.
Through his lawyers, the 60-year-old former pilot accuses the Spanish administration of unjustifiably subjecting him to persecution for years, while logically emphasizing “the obvious disproportion of the sanctions requested”, this has “exemplary purposes before the Spanish taxpayers. »
The defense released a statement: “In view of the information published today by the media and in our capacity as lawyers for the defense of Mr. Alfonso (Sito) Pons, we wish to declare:
FIRSTLY – The prosecution's accusation against our client is based on the erroneous assumption that Mr. Pons did not actually reside in the Principality of Monaco until 2012, nor in the United Kingdom after that year, but in Spain and, therefore, that is where he had to pay his taxes. However, Mr Pons actually resided in Monaco until 2012 and then in the United Kingdom, as shown, from the outset, by the certificates issued to this effect by the authorities of the respective countries. As our courts have established, the mere possession of tax residency certificates from another state would be sufficient to exclude the commission of a crime of tax evasion.
SECOND – Since 2012, Mr. Pons has paid his taxes in the United Kingdom in accordance with the legislation of this country, where he has his habitual residence and the center of his economic interests, in particular the activity of his PONS RACING team. The British authorities themselves vehemently defended Mr. Pons's residence in London before Spain in the procedure intended to avoid double taxation of taxpayers. This procedure is awaiting a response from the Spanish tax authorities to the requests of their British counterparts. In this context, the Spanish authorities hastened to complete the control procedures and referred the procedure to the tax authorities before awaiting the resolution of the amicable procedure. This is extremely relevant because the opening of the mutual agreement procedure between Spain and the United Kingdom should have paralyzed any action in the tax field and should therefore never have reached the public prosecutor's office for the opening of criminal proceedings against Mr. Pons. It is difficult to understand the simulation of tax residence when the competent authorities, in this case the British authorities, requested the opening of the mutual agreement procedure when they noted that Mr Pons' tax residence was in the United Kingdom. United. This is a process which, although provided for by the double taxation convention, is not usual.
THIRD – The frequent visits of Mr. Pons to Barcelona mentioned by the Prosecutor in his indictment are justified by the fact that a large part of his family lives in this city and that it is the usual meeting point of his team as it travels around the world during the competition season. In addition, it is in Spain that most of the training and competitions in which his PONS RACING team takes part take place. Mr. Pons spends most of the year traveling between circuits for business reasons and at his residence in London.
FOURTH – The present accusation of the Public Prosecutor's Office is part of a prosecution that the Spanish Treasury has unjustifiably brought against our client for years. Mr. Pons was already unjustly sitting on the dock by the public prosecutor and the tax authorities in 2011 and was freely acquitted of any crime by the criminal judge and the provincial court of Barcelona, who then firmly rejected the idea that our client had faked his place of residence or committed any crime.
FIFTH – The obvious disproportion of the sanctions requested (twenty-four years in prison, the penalty provided for two murders) shows the desire of the Public Prosecutor's Office and the Tax Agency to illegitimately use our client for exemplary purposes before the Spanish taxpayers and to unduly force him to pay large sums which he in no way owes. Despite this, Mr. Pons offered sufficient guarantees to cover the tax debts, but this offer was not accepted to suspend the execution of the tax debts. In short, as was the case in 2011, this defense will demonstrate in the act of the oral trial the absolute innocence of Mr. Alfonso Pons.”
In any case, the season promises to be tough for the double 250cc world champion (1988 and 1989) who is fielding Lorenzo Baldassarri and Héctor Garzó in Moto2020 in 2, as well as Jordi Torres in MotoE.
