PARIS (AP) — A lawyer for Samir Nasri argues the former Manchester City midfielder is being unfairly singled out for allegedly owing back taxes in France, where authorities are citing Deliveroo meals to a Paris address as evidence that he was fiscally based in the country and not in Dubai.
French authorities estimate that the 38-year-old Nasri might owe more than 5.5 million euros ($6.3 million) in wealth and income taxes for a period from 2018-2025, according to court documents.
In March, a Paris court agreed to the temporary seizure of some of Nasri’s assets to cover any eventual payment of tax arrears.
His lawyer, Jean-Noël Sanchez, said he’s appealing the seizure ruling and that it might be years before the broader question is decided of whether Nasri owes back taxes, as authorities claim. The lawyer also contested the figure of 5.5 million euros of alleged potential tax debt, calling it “imaginary.”
Sanchez, speaking Tuesday in a phone interview with The Associated Press, said Nasri “is a perfect French citizen” who files his tax returns and pays taxes for his revenues earned in France.
“The problem is that France has decided for Mr. Nasri — and others, for that matter — to attack all those who live in the United Arab Emirates,” Sanchez said.
The retired player, he added, is based there with his partner and their son, who attends school there.
“He doesn’t live in France,” Sanchez said. “I am an angry lawyer because the principle of presumption of innocence is being attacked.”
The March court ruling on the temporary seizure of some of Nasri’s bank accounts and for a provisional mortgaging of one of his Paris properties cited Deliveroo orders and airline reservations among arguments that Nasri should be considered resident in France for tax purposes.
Nasri, a former France international who also played for Marseille and Arsenal, was alleged in the documents to have spent a total of 487 days in France in the years 2021-2023, compared to a total of 226 days in the UAE.
Nasri also was alleged to have used Deliveroo 212 times in 2022 to have meals sent to one of his Paris addresses, the documents show.
Sanchez said it hasn’t been demonstrated that Nasri himself placed the orders.
“Did his mother place orders, his sister, his brother, his friends?” the lawyer asked.
“The administration might today believe that it’s on solid ground in saying that he lives in France but it will have to prove that. And that is not going to be proven by the 212 Deliveroos.”
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