Messi Gets Suspended Sentence In Tax Case

Spain's Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld a
21-month suspended prison sentence for
Barcelona star Lionel Messi in his appeal over
three counts of tax fraud, a judicial source
confirmed.

However, the Barcelona star's father, Jorge Messi,
has seen his sentence reduced from 21 to 15
months for his cooperation in returning some of
the defrauded money.

Neither is likely to serve any jail time because,
under Spanish law, a tax prison sentence of less
than two years can be served under probation.
Messi and his father were first sentenced on July
6 but appealed, with prosecutors eventually
asking the Spanish Supreme Court to review the
sentences last month.

Prosecutors in last year's case judged that Messi
and his father had used tax havens in Belize and
Uruguay as well as shell companies in the UK
and Switzerland to avoid paying taxes totalling
€4.1 million on earnings from image rights
between 2007 and 2009.

The five-time World Player of the Year was also
ordered to pay a fine of around €2m at the time,
while his father was fined €1.5m.

When news of the investigation first broke in the
summer of 2013, Jorge Messi, acting on behalf of
the Messis, was reported to have paid over €5m
in arrears and extra charges -- he is also
believed to have paid €10m in taxes due on the
image rights income for 2010 and 2011.
Those actions are behind the six-month
reduction in his sentence.

Messi said during last year's trial that he signed
many documents when he was younger without
reading their contents and had visited a notary's
office to set up a company to handle his finances
without understanding what was going on.
But Mario Maza, the state attorney representing
the tax authorities at the trial, said he found it
unlikely that Messi knew nothing about the
situation.

"It could be that they are inexperienced with tax
matters and the law and are not able to set up
their own companies, but they are able to
understand what paying your taxes means," he
said.

Messi is currently in talks about a contract
renewal with Barcelona. His current contract is
due to expire at the end of next season.

Barcelona have told ESPN FC they are confident
he will sign a contract extension, and Spanish
radio reported Tuesday that a new deal will be
signed at the beginning of next season so that
the money is used as part of next year's budget.