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Ballack fined for not declaring handbag
Chelsea midfielder Michael Ballack was fined $89,000 on Wednesday for failing to declare to Germans customs a handbag he bought for his wife in Dubai.
- Indo-Asian News Service
- Updated: February 25, 2007 10:36 AM IST
Read Time:1 min
Landshut, Germany:
Chelsea midfielder Michael Ballack was fined $89,000 on Wednesday for failing to declare to Germans customs a handbag he bought for his wife in Dubai. The Germany captain had tax evasion charges dropped and settled with the state court two days before the case was to go to trial. Ballack's status as one of the world's best paid soccer players proved costly as the fine for an infraction in Germany is determined by income. The court set the original fine at $64,000 - the maximum allowed under German law - but Ballack appealed against the amount. According to Landshut court president Karl Woerle, that negated his right to negotiate a smaller fine. Ballack then agreed to pay an extra $26,000 to settle the matter before it went to court. Charities will receive $83,000 and court costs will cover the remaining $6,400 of Ballack's fine. Ballack brought back the $2,500 handbag for his wife in January from Dubai, United Arab Emirates, after a training camp with former club Bayern Munich. (AP)Topics mentioned in this article
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