A Spanish court on July 6, 2016 sentenced the Argentine soccer superstar Lionel Messi to 21 months in jail after he was found guilty of tax fraud for using offshore companies to avoid paying Spanish taxes on advertising contracts.
Mr. Messi was also fined about 2.1 million euros, or $2.3 million, by a court in Barcelona. Offenders in Spain are typically imprisoned for financial crimes only if the sentence is at least two years or if they already have a criminal record, neither of which applies to Mr. Messi.
The soccer player’s father also received a 21-month jail term and a 1.6 million euro fine for defrauding Spain of €4.1m (£3.5m; $4.5m) between 2007 and 2009.They also face millions of euros in fines for using tax havens in Belize and Uruguayto conceal earnings from image rights. The case against Mr. Messi, who plays for the Spanish soccer powerhouse Barcelona, and his father, Jorge Horacio Messi, dates to 2013, when a state prosecutor opened an investigation into whether they had defrauded the state of 4.1 million euros. The investigation focused on the player’s tax returns filed between 2007 and 2009.
"The club... considers that the player, who has corrected his position with the Spanish tax office, is in no way criminally responsible with regards to the facts underlined in this case."
Appearing in court last month, the soccer star limited his comments to repeating that he was completely uninvolved in the advertising contracts, and said that he was unaware of the overall state of his finances. His father, meanwhile, said the contracts had been reviewed by a legal adviser.
Read more at: Tax Times blog
