Prosecutor calls for suspended jail term for Yeboah

A state prosecutor called on Thursday for a suspended jail term of 18 months for Ghanaian striker Tony Yeboah who is facing tax evasion charges in a Frankfurt court.

Yeboah, now with Hamburg SV, is alleged to have failed to pay 2.3 million marks ($1.04 million) in taxes while playing for Eintracht Frankfurt in 1993. Prosecutor Juergen Radke told the court he believed the player and Eintracht officials had used a fictitious promotional contract to evade tax payments. He said Yeboah should also be ordered to pay 300,000 marks ($135,600).

Also accused are former Eintracht vice-president Bernd Hoelzenbein, former treasurer Wolfgang Knispel and Yeboah's former tax adviser Johannes van Berk.

Radke requested suspended jail terms of two years for Hoelzenbein and Knispel and 15 months for Van Berk. Earlier in his trial, the 34-year-old Yeboah said his Eintracht bosses were to blame and had taken advantage of the fact that he knew nothing of the German tax system.

A verdict is due on December 22.