FC Barcelona soccer star Lionel Messi and his father were sentenced on Wednesday to 21 months in prison on three counts of tax fraud in Spain. But because the court’s sentence was less than two years and neither Messi has a criminal record, neither will be sent to prison. He will most likely be placed on probation.
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Messi was also fined €2-million, his father €1.5-million.
Jorge Messi manages financials for his son, and he was the person to review the image rights contracts with Adidas, Pepsi-Cola, Procter and Gamble, and others.
A court in Barcelona also fined Messi around $2.21m (€2m).
They can appeal the decision to Spain’s Supreme Court.
During the trial Messi pleaded innocent to the crime, and insisted he “knew nothing” as his father handled his finances while he focused on “playing football”.
The court agreed, arguing in its ruling that Messi “had chose to remain in ignorance”.
While fans of the “albiceleste” were digesting the end of an era, Spanish authorities were honing in on Lionel Andres Messi for an entirely different reason – tax fraud.
Barcelona issued a statement to “give all its support to Leo Messi and his father”.
The disputed tax payments date back to a period from 2007 to 2009, a time when Argentinian player Messi, now 29, helped to transform Barca into the world’s best team.
Tax inspectors testified that they found evidence that Messi’s father used companies in countries such as Uruguay, Switzerland and Belize to reduce tax on the player’s income from image rights.
His verdict comes just six months after a Spanish court handed Barcelona’s Argentine midfielder Javier Mascherano a one-year suspended sentence for tax fraud.
“The Club, in agreement with the Government prosecution service, considers that the player, who has corrected his position with the Spanish Tax Office, is in no way criminally responsible with regards to the facts underlined in this case”. He and the club are accused of withholding the real amount of the transfer fee, in part to avoid paying the full amount of taxes.
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Alves left Barcelona in June after eight seasons to join Italian side Juventus.
