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- Lionel Messi and his father have arrived in court to answer charges of tax evasion.
- Messi who gained Spanish citizenship five years later after joining the club’s academy in 2000 will be questioned in a closed-court.
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Messi mania outside the court as Barca star arrives to face £3.4m tax fraud charges
Barcelona forward Lionel Messi and his father have arrived in court to answer charges of tax evasion. The World Player of the Year and his dad Jorge deny any wrongdoing.
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| Messi's father Jorge arrives at court in Gava to face charges of tax evasion |
The World Player of the Year and his dad Jorge, who both deny wrongdoing, allegedly hid more than €4million (£3.4m) by filing incomplete returns for the years 2006 to 2009. Jorge arrived first to face the charges.
They have already made a 'corrective payment' to Spanish authorities of just over €5m (£4.2m) - the unpaid tax plus interest.
The Argentine pair will be questioned in a closed-court session in Gava - the district of Barcelona where Messi lives.
According to the prosecutor’s office for tax crimes in Catalonia, income from the sale of Messi’s image rights was hidden using a complex web of shell companies in Uruguay, Belize, Switzerland and United Kingdom to avoid paying tax in Spain.
The income was connected to contracts with Banco Sabadell, Danone, Adidas, Pepsi-Cola, Proctor and Gamble, and the Kuwait Food Company.
Messi has been resident in Barcelona since joining the club’s academy in 2000 and gained Spanish citizenship five years later.
'I never take care of that (tax) stuff myself and neither does my father,' Messi, 26, said in July. 'We have our lawyers and our wealth managers to take care of that and we trust them and they will sort this out.
'The truth is I don’t have a clue about all this and that is why we have people taking care of it.'
Messi takes home around €16m (£13.5m) a year in wages from Barcelona and has a string of multi-million dollar investments around the world.
The hearing will determine whether the case is pursued further.
They have already made a 'corrective payment' to Spanish authorities of just over €5m (£4.2m) - the unpaid tax plus interest.
The Argentine pair will be questioned in a closed-court session in Gava - the district of Barcelona where Messi lives.
According to the prosecutor’s office for tax crimes in Catalonia, income from the sale of Messi’s image rights was hidden using a complex web of shell companies in Uruguay, Belize, Switzerland and United Kingdom to avoid paying tax in Spain.
The income was connected to contracts with Banco Sabadell, Danone, Adidas, Pepsi-Cola, Proctor and Gamble, and the Kuwait Food Company.
Messi has been resident in Barcelona since joining the club’s academy in 2000 and gained Spanish citizenship five years later.
'I never take care of that (tax) stuff myself and neither does my father,' Messi, 26, said in July. 'We have our lawyers and our wealth managers to take care of that and we trust them and they will sort this out.
'The truth is I don’t have a clue about all this and that is why we have people taking care of it.'
Messi takes home around €16m (£13.5m) a year in wages from Barcelona and has a string of multi-million dollar investments around the world.
The hearing will determine whether the case is pursued further.
