Bayern Munich boss Hoeness could face jail term

MUNICH, Germany: German footbal l legend Uli Hoeness, head of powerhouse club Bayern Munich, faces a verdict and possible jail term Thursday after he admitted in court to having evaded millions in taxes.

“I f tomorrow there are no more applications to submit new evidence, then final summaries can be heard and the verdict handed down,” Munich regional court spokeswoman Andrea Titz said Wednesday.

Football- obsessed Germany has been gripped by the highprofile trial this week of Hoeness, 62, a former star player then team manager and current club president who is also a successful businessman.

The public image of the stocky, folksy Bavarian, known also as a conservative TV talk- show regular, has taken a beating since the scandal around his secret Swiss bank accounts broke early last year.

Things have taken a turn for the worse since he entered the dock Monday, rueful ly confessing to large- scale tax fraud and admitting to a yearslong obsession with stocks and currency “gambling”.

His vow of full disclosure was contradicted by a tax officer who testified in court Tuesday that Hoeness had in fact cheated the state out of 27.2 million euros ( US$ 37.6 million).

That figure was a hefty jump from the 18.5 mi l l ion euros Hoeness had spectacularly confessed to at the trial’s opening, which was itsel f almost f ive times more than prosecutors had assumed.

The maximum punishment for major tax fraud under German law is 10 years jail, although sentences are usually shorter and can be suspended if there are mitigating circumstances. — AFP