Football star Lionel Messi’s tax fraud trial has finally concluded. Sat beside his father Jorge Horacio Messi, both denied wrongdoing. The Argentinian star defended him self-claiming to have no knowledge of tax issues, trusting his father with earnings whilst continuing focus on his football career.
Both stand accused of using a number of fraudulent offshore companies situated in Belize and Uruguay to allegedly store $11 million of image right earnings. Consequently, avoiding payment of taxes worth 4.16M euros (3.23M). To offset this, back in 2013 Messi and his father made a voluntary 5M-euro corrective payment including interest.
The father and son are now awaiting their verdict. The Government prosecutor acting on behalf of taxation authorities pursued a prison sentence of 22 months each. However, the public prosecutor requested an 18-month sentence for his father only. Due to the corrective payment and having no prior records neither defendant is expected to receive prison time.
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