Thursday, June 20, 2013
Lionel Messi and Father Charged for Tax Evasion
According to El Pais, Barcelona
star Lionel Messi and his father, Jorge, have been indicted on tax fraud
charges and a court hearing has been scheduled for September 17.
The story originally grabbed
headlines last week, when it was revealed that tax authorities in the country
claimed Messi and his father, Jorge Messi, owed millions in
unpaid taxes in connection with image rights.
Public prosecutor Raquel Amado
filed a complaint at a Barcelona district court on June 12 alleging that the
reigning four-time World Player of the Year evaded €4.2 million in tax between
2007 and 2009, the Spanish newspaper reports.
Messi has denied any
wrongdoing - as has his father - and his lawyers issued a statement last week
saying that he "has always punctually attended to his fiscal
obligations". For the new charge, Messi took to social media site facebook
to express his surprise over the rising allegations:
We communicate "We have
just known through the media about the claim filed by the Spanish tax
authorities. We are surprised about those news because we have never committed
any infringement. We have always fulfilled all our tax obligations, following
the advices of our Tax Consultants who will take care of clarifying this
situation."
The 25-year-old, who is rated by Forbes as the world's tenth
highest-paid athlete, reportedly earned $41.3m to June this year; with $20.3
coming from his club salary and $21m in endorsements.
The outcome if Messi is found guilty of tax fraud is not
very clear, however, it will be clear after the Sept. 17 court date.
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