SPAIN: FOOTBALL/SOCCER: Father of Lionel Messi arrives at court to face tax evasion charges

Record ID: 860885

  • Title: SPAIN: FOOTBALL/SOCCER: Father of Lionel Messi arrives at court to face tax evasion charges
  • Date: 27th September 2013
  • Summary: BARCELONA, SPAIN (SEPTEMBER 27, 2013) (REUTERS) MEDIA OUTSIDE COURT IN GAVA, CLOSE TO BARCELONA BANNER READING "COURT" BARCA STRIKER LIONEL MESSI'S FATHER JORGE MESSI ENTERING COURT WITH LAWYERS MEDIA OUTSIDE COURT
  • Embargoed: 12th October 2013 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Spain
  • City:
  • Country: Spain
  • Topics: Crime,Sports
  • Reuters ID: LVA5J514WKG1QPLP1BO9HDBA9N90
  • Aspect Ratio:
  • Story Text: Lionel Messi will arrive at court after his father.

    Barcelona forward Lionel Messi's father Jorge Messi appeared in court to answer charges of tax evasion on Friday (September 27).
    The court will hear allegations that both Lionel and Jorge Messi withheld more than four million euros ($5.3 million) by filing incomplete returns for the years 2006 to 2009.
    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.
    The World player of the Year and his father have both denied wrongdoing, and they have already made a "corrective payment" to Spanish authorities of just over five million euros.
    Jorge Messi appeared at the court in Gava near Barcelona at 1000 local time (0800 GMT) and Lionel is due an hour later.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2013. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
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