Both partners, who stopped working for Messi shortly after the investigation started, were however unable to explain why the player’s firm in Uruguay failed to appear in his wealth tax declaration.
Advertisement
Father and son have already paid €5 million to the tax authorities as a “corrective” measure after they were formally charged in June 2013.
This is the moment Argentine football superstar Lionel Messi arrived at a court in Barcelona to take the stand for the first time at his tax fraud trial in Spain.
Wearing a dark suit and tie, the Barcelona star sat alongside his father in front of the judge during early proceedings in the third day of the trial.
Messi and his father Jorge, who manages his financial affairs, are accused of defrauding Spain of more than €4m (£3m; $4.5m) between 2007 and 2009.
Messi moved to Barcelona from his birth place of Rosario, Argentina in 2000, becoming a Spanish citizen in 2005.
It is unlikely they will face any jail time, although they could be fined and have to forfeit any possible tax benefits in the near future.
Prosecutors contend Messi and his father, aiming to lower their Spanish tax bill, sought to manage the player’s lucrative income from image rights through shell companies set up overseas.
FC Barcelona has promised to give Messi legal and financial support, as the Argentina worldwide considers whether to sue over the leak.
After his court appearance, Messi will jet off to the United States, where Argentina will take on Copa America defending champions Chile in their first game of the tournament in California on Monday.
The trial is centered on alleged unlawful activities of Messi’s father, but authorities said the player knew enough to also be named in the case.
Advertisement
Messi’s have lawyers tried to show that he was not familiar with the tax issues that led to fraud charges against him. Officials said that although Messi was mostly unfamiliar with tax issues, there was sufficient evidence to believe he could have known and consented to the creation of a fictitious corporate structure to avoid paying taxes on income from his image rights.
