Messi Denies Tax Fraud Allegations on Facebook

Lionel Messi was denounced by the prosecution of economic crimes in Catalonia, Spain, for tax fraud, with a debt that would reach 4 million euros, according to the newspaper La Nacion of Argentina.

Prosecutor Raquel Amado signed a 13-page document accusing Barcelona's star and his father, Jorge, to put together an international network of shell companies. The Messi family would have simulated the transfer of the player's image rights to these corporations as a way to evade taxes between 2007 and 2009.

According to La Nación, the lawsuit comes after an investigation that took two years, and provides penalties of between one and four years in prison and fines of up to six times more than the money owed.

Prosecutors said the alleged strategy of Messi was to simulate the transfer of his image rights to companies located in tax havens (Belize and Uruguay) and to make licensing agreements with other ones placed in desirable jurisdictions such as the U.K. and Switzerland. Thus, revenues of the football player allegedly transited from these European countries to the corporations situated in tax havens paying practically no taxes, explained the Spanish newspaper ABC. 

The general secretary of the union of technicians from the tax office, José María Mollinedo, said that Messi and his father could benefit from the reform of the Penal Code which came into force in January of this year. The new law grants two months from the moment the imputation is announced, according to information published by the newspaper La Vanguardia in Spain. 

In that case, the player would pay for the alleged fraud in the years 2007, 2008 and 2009, plus default interest and a financial penalty to agree with the prosecutor. In addition, he would negotiate a reduction of the prison sentence, dropping it to three months for each of the offenses. Thus, the penalty would be established in nine months, so he wouldn't have to go to prison for so little time by not having a criminal record.

For his part, the player published his opinion on Wednesday in his official Facebook page: "It is surprising because we have never committed any infringement. We have always taken care of all our tax obligations on the counsel of our tax advisors."

Meanwhile, FC Barcelona avoided referring to the case. The ones who did speak were the leaders of the legal firm Juarez Veciana, Messi's attorneys. "We are surprised because neither we nor our client receive any notice from the prosecutor", explained La Nación.