Barcelona FC striker, Lionel Messi and his father have been
sentenced to 21 months for tax fraud, but will not have to go to prison due to Spanish laws regarding non-violent crimes, where
prison sentences under two years do not require any incarceration.
The five-time Ballon d'Or and his father appeared in court on
2 June having being accused of avoiding €4.1m (£3.5m, $4.5m) in tax on the
Barcelona's star's earnings by using off-shore companies located in Belize and
Uruguay between 2007 and 2009, according to Spanish publication El Periodico.
They already paid the Spanish authorities a voluntary
corrective payment of around €5m after being formally charged in 2013, but
state lawyers decided to continue the case by requesting a prison sentence.
Messi himself has denied, in court, any knowledge of the
attempts to avoid paying taxing, claiming that he signed documents without
reading as he trusted his father and the lawyers responsible for managing his
finances.
Source: International Business Times
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