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Economic Crimes Prosecutor Barcelona are on probe against footballer Lionel Messi of FC Barcelona and his father for tax fraud case. Local newspapers announced Wednesday that the Spanish government are investigating Messi and his father for tax evasion which could reach 4 million euros.
The Economic Crimes Prosecutor of Barcelona Wednesday filed a lawsuit against Messi, and against his father, Jorge Horacio Messi, who are accused of defrauding more than four million euros in tax returns during the years 2007, 2008 and 2009 (1.06 million, 1.58 million and 1.53 million euros respectively).
The survey was given to the judge in the town of Gava, near Barcelona where Messi lives.
But “we do not know if it will be accepted” by the judge, a court source said.
Although the investigation is in its early stages, a fiscal offense is punishable in Spain with one to four years in prison.
Prosecution believes that the player consented to the tactics of his father to defraud throughout 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009, knowing that “he did not pay any tax for the substantial revenues from the transfer and exploitation of his image rights.”
Moreover, the complaint adds, “omitted certain relevant data in other tax returns in order to prevent the tax was aware of the transfer of rights to companies resident abroad”.
The news came as a bombshell in the player’s family. On the Facebook page of the star, Messi and his father said they were “surprised because we never committed any crime whatsoever.”
“We have always fulfilled our tax obligations following the advice of our tax advisors, who are responsible to clarify the situation,” say the player and his father in a statement posted on Facebook.
U.S. magazine Forbes ranks Messi as the tenth highest paid athlete in the world, with annual revenues of EUR 31.4 million in a list headed by the golfer Tiger Woods.
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