Barcelona Provincial Court acquits Sito Pons and declares proven his residence outside Spain between 2010 and 2014
The Eighth Section of the Barcelona Provincial Court has acquitted of the well-known motorcycling driver Alfonso (Sito) Pons, currently manager of the PONS RACING team, in respect of the six tax offences for which both the Public Prosecutor and the Spanish and Catalan Tax Agencies had accused him, requesting sentences of over twenty years in prison.
Following the trial that took place in February and March of this year, the Court has declared it proven that, in the years between 2010 and 2014, Mr. Pons was not a tax resident in Spain, but in Monaco (2010 to 2012) and the United Kingdom (2013 to 2014), where, as stated in the sentence, the athlete “as a taxpayer, has declared income derived from work as an employee and self-employed, as well as interest earned”. Furthermore, the Court has considered it accredited that “most of Mr. Pons’ economic interests and financial assets and the core of his economic activity are concentrated and located outside Spanish territory, with the exception of some properties located in Spain”. The sentence also states that the management of the PONS RACING team was carried out by the British company SHOTMODE, “who held the participation rights in accordance with international regulations“. For all these reasons, the sentence acquits him of all the crimes for which he had been accused.
The defence of Sito Pons – exercised by the criminal lawyers Pau Molins, Jordi Pina and Miriam Company, of MOLINS DEFENSA PENAL, and the tax lawyer Iñaki Picaza, of PICAZA LEGAL – wish to express on behalf of Mr. Pons their satisfaction at the fact that, after so many years, the innocence of their client has been proven, having completely discredited accusations that, without any basis whatsoever, attributed serious tax frauds to him.
Barcelona, on 21 st December 2022