Neymar Fined $3.3 Million For Building Lake At Mansion

A prosecutor in Brazil fined soccer star Neymar 16 million reais ($3.3 million) for building a lake at his mansion on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro without an environmental license, authorities said Monday.

Four fines were imposed by the Mangaratiba town council for “environmental violations in the construction of an artificial lake at the player’s mansion,” according to a statement from the council office.

The amount listed by the prosecutor’s office in Mangaratiba, a tourist destination about 130 kilometers (80 miles) from Rio where the Paris Saint-Germain player owns his house, was stated in the statement as “the sanctions amount to more than 16 million reais.”

Among “dozens of infractions” detected, the authorities listed “carrying out work subject to environmental control without authorization,” capture and diversion of river water without authorization, and “removal of land and suppression of vegetation without authorization.”

Neymar has 20 days to appeal the penalty, the amount of which had initially been set at five million reais, close to one million dollars.

Authorities cordoned off the site and ordered all activity to cease, but Brazilian media reported that Neymar threw a party there and bathed in the lake.

Neymar’s press office in Brazil did not respond to an AFP request for comment.