Mumbai/Barcelona: After recently being part of the UEFA Champions League winning side, Barcelona’s star striker Lionel Messi will face trial over an alleged €4.1m tax fraud after a Barcelona court turned down an appeal made by his lawyers aimed at avoiding him having to sit in the dock.
According to ‘El Pais’, the court felt there was evidence that Messi “benefited” from a network of companies that allowed him to defraud the Spanish Tax Agency of £3.4m in income tax, regardless of whether he had any knowledge of the structures in place. But both father and son deny the allegations.
A report in ‘The Guardian’ said they are suspected of using companies in Belize and Uruguay to sell the rights to use Messi’s image, thereby circumventing tax obligations in Spain.
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In August, Jorge Messi made a payment of €5m to the tax authorities – the €4.1m of the alleged unpaid tax plus interest. Messi previously stated that he along with his father “never committed any infringement. We have always fulfilled all our tax obligations”.
Messi’s net salary from Barcelona is said to be a whopping €16m a year, including multi-million endorsements with commercial sponsors around the world. The Argentine ended this season clinching the treble of La Liga, Copa del Rey and the Champions League and will next be seen playing for his national side in the Copa America.
