Messi summoned to court

A Barcelona court has summoned FC Barcelona player Lionel Messi and his father, Jorge Horacio Messi, to appear on 17th September, accused of defrauding the taxman to the tune of over €4 million.

According to information from judicial sources, the judge has accepted the complaint filed by public prosecutors against the player and ordered him to appear in court charged with three counts of tax fraud.

The Barça player and his father are accused of three crimes for the three tax years - corresponding to 2007, 2008 and 2009 - when they allegedly avoided paying tax on income by transferring the player's image rights to third parties.

In total, Barcelona's Financial Crimes Office - which brought the complaint against Messi and his father – estimates that the accused could have committed fraud amounting to over €4 million between 2007 and 2009, and it has not ruled out the possibility that the same tax avoidance scheme was used in subsequent years, judicial sources have revealed.

Prosecutors claim that Messi simulated the transfer of his image rights to shell companies located in tax havens such as Belize and Uruguay, whilst signing licensing, agency or service provision contracts between these and other shell companies located in beneficial jurisdictions (the United Kingdom and Switzerland).


/Marca.Com/