The Malaysian Insider :: Sports
The Malaysian Insider :: Sports |
| Bayern boss Hoeness ‘hid evidence for a year’ Posted: 11 Mar 2014 08:18 AM PDT New twists and additional witnesses will likely extend the high-profile trial – in which Hoeness faces a possible jail term – beyond this week, said a court spokeswoman. Hoeness, 62, in a shock confession told the opening of the trial on Monday that he used Swiss bank accounts to cheat on 18.5 million euros (RM83.64 million) in taxes, almost five times the amount prosecutors had assumed. A rueful Hoeness told the Munich court that he had stashed away the money during years of obsessive stock "gambling", during which he had lost sight of his winnings and losses. Today a tax official testifying in the packed courtroom challenged a claim by Hoeness that he was only able to provide authorities the full 70,000 pages of documents from his bank just two weeks before the start of the trial. The official said that IT specialists had determined that his bank had sent them as early as January last year. "This (data) stick was only put together on February 24," the Rosenheim tax office investigator told the court. "However, the data on it was created on January 18, 2013 ... This was determined by our IT colleagues," she added. The testimony piled further pressure on Hoeness, one of the best known figures in German football, whose tax troubles have often been front-page news since the scandal broke last year. Hoeness has spent more than four decades with the Bavarian sporting giants – first as player, when he helped then West Germany win the 1974 World Cup, then as team manager and, since 2009, as club president. He has stayed on so far at the helm of the European champions club amid pleas of loyalty from fans and players, and from corporate sponsors such as Adidas, Audi, VW and Deutsche Telekom. However, the public mood has darkened, with wider condemnation of German super-rich tax cheats who hide their money in secret accounts abroad rather than pay their fair share for roads, schools and hospitals at home. Munich daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung charged that when Hoeness first turned himself in to authorities in January 2013 – at a time when journalists had started to aggressively investigate his case – he had only told a half-truth. "His self-reporting was like a shiny soap bubble," the newspaper said. "It suggested Hoeness had decided to come clean. But it wasn't so. Hoeness, more specifically his lawyer, knew the bubble would burst. That's why they have now pricked it themselves." Prosecutors have argued that Hoeness' initial revelation of his Zurich accounts contained irregularities and would not offer him immunity because authorities already had Hoeness in their crosshairs at the time. The maximum punishment for major tax fraud under German law is 10 years jail, although sentences are usually shorter and can be suspended. Another newspaper, the Flensburger Tageblatt from northern Germany, pointed out that a possible guilty verdict would resonate far and wide by pushing citizens to rethink the finer details on their tax return. Since the case first made headlines, the daily said, "it has already triggered a tsunami of self-reporting that has flushed millions into the state coffers." – AFP, March 11, 2014. |
| Malaysian divers set to shine in World Series Posted: 11 Mar 2014 06:18 AM PDT Pandelela in her WhatsApp message from Guangzhou, China today before departing for Beijing said despite the missing Malaysia Airlines (MAS) aircraft, she and the other members of the team are determined to do well in Beijing. "I feel very sorry for those on the flight and their family members and pray for their safety," she said. Pandelela is accompanied by five other divers – Leong Mun Yee, Cheong Jun Hoong, Ahmad Amsyar, Ooi Tze Liang and Wendy Ng. The Olympic medalist will participate in two events, the 10m platform individual and the synchro partnering Leong Mun Yee. "My personal target is to win medals in both events," said the 21-year-old Sarawak-born diver. She finished third in the women's 10m platform individual category at last year's FINA Diving World Series in Beijing scoring 337.75 points. China's Chen Ruolin stamped her class as she recorded 403.75 points to win the gold medal. Meaghan Benfeito of Canada collected the silver with 362.25 points. Pandelela believed the training in Guangzhou, China from January 29 to March 11 made the Malaysian divers more prepared for the competition in Beijing. The diving world series is a high profile competition which offers the world's top divers the opportunity to compete regularly. It was launched in 2007 with three host organisers: Great Britain, China and Mexico. In recent years, Qatar, Russia and the United Arab Emirates have been added to the list of host countries. The 2014 Fina/NVC Diving World Series event consists of six legs and kicks off in Beijing on March 14-16, then to Dubai, London, Moscow, Windsor in Canada before the last leg in Monterrey (Mexico) on June 6-8. Divers compete for prize money and points at each of the six events, the 3m springboard and 10m platform in both solo and synchronised diving. The Chinese team is expected to dominate but the presence of strong teams from Russia, USA, Germany and Canada will threaten their stranglehold. Ilya Zakharov of Russia and David Boudia of USA won the gold medal in the London Olympics while Germany's Sascha Klein and Patrick Hausding topped the podium ahead of the Chinese at the 2013 Barcelona Fina World Championships. – Bernama, March 11, 2014. |
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