Messi is innocent of tax fraud – lawyers

Source: Vanguard

MADRID (AFP) – Barcelona star Lionel
Messi’s lawyers said Friday they “firmly
believe” the Argentine player, who is
accused of avoiding paying tax on
income generated from the sale of his
image rights, is innocent.
The 25-year-old four-time World Player
of the Year and his father Jorge Horacio
were ordered by a Spanish court
Thursday to appear for questioning in
September as part of an investigation
into alleged tax fraud.
Spanish financial crimes prosecutors
accuse Messi and his father of
defrauding the tax office of over four
million euros ($5 million, £3.4 million) in
income related to the use of his image
from 2006-2009.
“We firmly believe
in the innocence
of our client,”
Messi’s lawyers
office, Juarez Veciana, said in a
statement.
“We are confident that we will be able to
clarify this disparity in criteria and we
regret that the honour of our client, who
scrupulously complies with Spanish
legislation, is being questioned,” it
added.
“We declare that our customer will pay
any amount that he is eventually found
to owe but we believe that our client has
already paid what he was legally
obliged.”
The accusations of tax fraud are a huge
blow to the prestige of Messi, who has
long been seen as a more humble figure
than most top-class footballers — in
particular his fierce Real Madrid rival
Cristiano Ronaldo.
If convicted Messi and his father could
face a jail term of between one to five
years and a fine equal to six times the
amount that was found to have been
defrauded, said Carlos Cruzado, a lawyer
and president of Treasury Ministry trade
union GESTHA.
But if within two months of receiving their
summons to be questioned in court they
admit they are guilty and pay the amount
they are accused of defrauding tax
officials, the judge can issue a jail
sentences of just three months and a
much smaller fine, he told AFP.
Defendants who receive sentences of
less than two years in Spain generally do
not go to jail unless they have previous
convictions
Messi and his father aimed to deceive
the state by ceding the player’s image
rights to companies based in tax havens
such as Belize and Uruguay so they
would pay no tax in Spain, according to
the prosecutor’s complaint filed at a
court in Gava, a Mediterranean coastal
town near Barcelona, on June 12.
The prosecutor’s complaint also alleged
Messi and his father drew up deals
related to his image rights in Britain and
Switzerland, ensuring that the income
went straight to the tax havens without
any tax being paid.
The father was accused of being the
brains behind the scheme, allegedly
setting it up in 2005 before his son
turned 18 on June 24 of that year.
The prosecutor said Messi later agreed
with his father’s tactics so that he would
avoid any taxes on income from the use
of his image rights during the period.
The income related to his image rights
included contracts with FC Barcelona,
Banco Sabadell, Danone, Adidas, Pepsi-
Cola, Procter & Gamble and Kuwait Food
Company.