Piquet Family Accused of Tax Evasion

Hadn't it been for the Piquets, the media would have been a lot poorer in headlines over the past year and a half. Starting with the crash-gate in the summer of 2009, the two Brazilian figures, one of whom is a triple F1 champion, have conducted their affairs in the public eye, and just when we thought it was all over, another piece of news comes to mark the end of 2010.

According to a report from Brazilian news weekly Veja, it seems that the father and son are now being accused of tax evasion and money laundering.

And this is not a rare accusation when it comes to high-profiled racing drivers – Helio Castroneves is example enough, although he did prove his innocence in the end. According to the aforementioned report, the two allegedly laundered money by directing it through the automobile federation of the Brazilian state of Ceara.

“Tax was also allegedly evaded by filtering money between 2004 and 2008 into the foreign accounts of son Piquet Jr,” added a report from the GMM news agency, citing Veja.

The same report tells us that Piquet Sr. has already disclosed the sum of money we're dealing with, which is short of EUR 3 million, with the matter being investigated by the Brazilian federal police. Neither Piquet Jr, nor his father issued any statements to the media since the Veja report made it to the papers.

Last year, the pair was involved in the famous crash-gate scandal in Formula One. A few weeks back, it was confirmed that the Piquets and French manufacturer Renault – for which team Piquet Jr was driving in the Singapore GP – have reached a settlement.