Former FC Barça chief and son sentenced to six years in jail

The former president of the FC Barcelona soccer team, José Luis Núñez Clemente, and his son José Luis Núñez Navarro, have been sentenced to six years in jail each for bribery and forgery.

In the most complex case handled by the Barcelona High Court to date, 14 out of the 16 defendants were convicted, including the chief tax inspector in Catalonia, Josep María Huguet, who was slapped with a 13-year jail sentence for helping the Núñezs avoid paying around 13 million euros in taxes between 1991 and 1999.

Núñez, who is also a real estate developer, devised a complex system to divert the profits of his various companies. He also bribed tax inspectors to produce phony inspection reports, selling them luxury homes at rock-bottom prices as a reward.

Two of these tax officers received nearly 1 million euros for their services.

The case was the political downfall of the Socialist candidate to the prime minister's seat, José Borrell, who as secretary of state for the Treasury appointed José María Huguet to the post of chief tax inspector in Catalonia, as well as another civil servant who was also a suspect in the case.

Judicial sources said prosecutors will seek the immediate incarceration of the tax inspectors, without waiting for the Supreme Court to review their appeals, a procedure that could take two to three years.