Lionel Messi has reportedly negotiated a €15m settlement with tax authorities to avoid him and his father facing prosecution for tax fraud.
The duo are set to appear in court in mid-September as defendants accused of three counts of criminal and civil responsibility for failing to pay a total of €4.1m in tax between 2006 and 2009 for money earned on the sale of the player’s image rights.
Reports in Spain today claim that the player has reached an agreement with prosecutors in the investigation to pay the Hacienda [tax authorities] a total sum of €15m, so that he and his father Jorge Messi will avoid prosecution.
However, El Periodico are running the line that Messi’s lawyers handling the case have denied any existence of a deal.
Recently, reports have claimed that the star has paid out €10m in supplementary declaration to avoid a similar situation over the 2010 and 2011 tax years, whilst the deadline for the 2012 tax year is July 30.
