Flusha convicted of tax evasion on over $100,000 of CSGO winnings
Adela Sznajder for DreamHackFnatic CS:GO star Robin ‘flusha’ Rönnquist has been convicted of tax evasion dating back to 2015. Flusha failed to report over $100,000 of prize money, which the Swedish star claimed was a mistake. He managed to avoid jail over the offense.
Flusha has been at the top of Counter-Strike for a decade now, helping lead Fnatic to numerous titles across Europe and the world.
However, the Swedish star has been struck with a hefty tax bill and a criminal conviction, after he was found guilty of tax evasion back home over CS:GO prize money he failed to declare.
Flusha has been fined and given a suspended jail sentence over tax evasion in Sweden.According to a report by Swedish site Fragbite, Rönnquist didn’t report over 1.04 million Swedish kronor ($120,000 USD) of income back in 2015. Prosecutors stated that Flusha should have understood that his prize money winnings from the year were counted as income.
2015 was arguably the peak of Flusha’s CS:GO career. The Swedish rifler won two majors — ESL One Katowice 2015 and ESL One Cologne 2015 — as well as DreamHack Open Tours, DreamHack Open Summer, the ESL Pro League Season 1 and 2 Finals, and the FACEIT 2015 Stage 3 Finals.
Fnatic ended up making around $1 million USD in prize money that year alone, of which the 27-year-old would have received a big portion of.
In Sweden, prize money from esports events must be declared as income, and is subject to income tax. The tax rate for income over 675,700 kronor is as high as 57%.
Flusha denied he intended to evade the authorities, claiming it was a mistake and not malicious.
ESLFlusha has been forced to pay back the missing tax as well as a 40% surcharge, which equals to around 200,000 kronor ($23,300 USD). He has also been served a suspended sentence of 120 hours of community service in lieu of four months imprisonment, and must pay 800 kronor ($100 USD) to the Swedish Crime Victims Fund.
His sentence means he will be able to continue competing for Fnatic in Flashpoint Season 2, where they’ll face off against MAD Lions next in the Group A Grand Final on November 20.