Real Madrid midfielder Luka Modric and fellow Croatian footballer Dejan Lovren have been alleged of perjury in Croatia. The duo supposedly gave false testimony about financial deals they had with a former Dinamo Zagreb director Zdravko Mamic, who was sentenced for tax fraud in a multi-million-dollar case.
Modric and Lovren were accused of these charges a few years back in 2018, before the FIFA World Cup. But in December of that year, the allegations were taken back as charges on Modric were thrown out by a lower court as there was not enough evidence. The Croatian captain won the prestigious Ballon d’Or award that year as he carried Croatia to the finals of the World Cup.
Talking about Zdravko Mamic, the Dinamo director was sentenced to 6 1/2 years in prison for his involvement in making illegal profits on player transfers. These deals include Modric’s move from Dinamo Zagreb to Tottenham Hotspur in 2008 and Lovren’s transfer to Lyon in 2010. Mamic, before being found guilty, fled to Bosnia.
Mamic stated that some amount of money from the deal never came back to him as Modric and Lovren are "accomplices" in the case against him."We met and signed a money-sharing agreement; he [Modric] withdrew the money, gave a part to me," Mamic told reporters in Bosnia. "No player in history has ever paid a single penny of taxes."
If Luka Modric and Dejan Lovren are found guilty of the charges, both could serve a prison sentence between six months and five years. The court dates regarding the case haven’t been scheduled yet.
