Messi sentenced to 21 months

[LordOfMud]

Barcelona's Messi sentenced to 21 months' jail for tax fraud

A court in Spain on Wednesday sentenced Barcelona striker Lionel Messi and his father to 21 months in jail for tax fraud, in the latest case of tax avoidance involving a top footballer in the country.

But the prison sentences are likely to be suspended as is common in Spain for first offences for non-violent crimes carrying a sentence of less than two years.

The Barcelona court found the Argentina international and his father Jorge Horacio Messi guilty of using companies in Belize, Britain, Switzerland and Uruguay to avoid paying taxes on 4.16 million euros of Messi's income earned from his image rights from 2007-09.

The income related to Messi's image rights that was allegedly hidden includes endorsement deals with Danone, Adidas, Pepsi-Cola, Procter & Gamble and the Kuwait Food Company.

The court found Messi and his father, who has managed his son's affairs since he was a child, guilty tax fraud and ruled that for each of those three years they should serve a sentence of seven months.

"There is no deliberate ignorance here, it's fraud and that's all there is to it, because he didn't want to pay his taxes," he said.

"It's like a crime boss. At the very top is the bigwig who doesn't want to know about the details."

The court agreed, arguing in its ruling that Messi "had decided to remain in ignorance".

"Despite all the opportunities available to the player to show interest in how his rights were managed, he did not," the court added.

The court said if the player was not punished, "ordinary" citizens could conclude that it was better to "not show interest" in their tax obligations.

Messi's tax fraud trial has taken place against a backdrop of simmering voter anger over steep cuts to health and social spending, as the government struggles to bring Spain's public deficit down.

[perugu_vada]

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[Balibabu]

[LordOfMud]

7 minutes ago, perugu_vada said:

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