A Spanish court will move forward with tax evasion cases against Barcelona forward Lionel Messi, along with his father Jorge Messi. The pair are accused of failing to pay more than €4 million (about $5.4 million) in taxes to the Spanish state by filing false returns over a four year period from 2006 to 2009.
Lionel Messi will be prosecuted for alleged tax evasion
A Spanish court will move forward with a case against the Barcelona striker and his father for alleged tax evasion.
Jamie McDonald
A public prosecutor had argued that Messi’s father alone was responsible for the family’s finances, recommending that charges against the forward be dropped. The judge rejected the prosecutor’s request, and will allow three cases of suspected unpaid taxes to go forward.
Barca Blaugranes
According to a release by the court, the judge decided that Lionel could have known about his father’s actions and approved the shell companies that were allegedly created to evade taxes on earned income.
The investigation into the alleged tax fraud began in June 2013, and Messi testified in court last September. Messi’s father made a payment of more than €5 million in August of last year to cover the alleged unpaid taxes, plus interest.
Both father and son have denied any wrongdoing in the cases.
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