Messi in new tax storm?

Barcelona star Lionel Messi could be involved in another tax storm after reportedly being among the global elite implicated in the ‘biggest-ever’ tax fraud scandal.

According to La Sexta and El Confidencial, the Argentine reacted to allegations of tax fraud in Spain three years ago by creating a company in Panama to hide his assets.

The case does not only involve Messi, with the likes of suspended UEFA President Michel Platini, former Real Madrid striker Ivan Zamorano, ex-Boca Juniors President Mauricio Macri – now that of Argentina – and Real Sociedad also implicated, the latter accused of making illegal payments to players.

Beyond sport are names such as Russia President Vladimir Putin, film director Pedro Almodovar, actor Jackie Chan and the sister of King Juan Carlos, Pilar de Borbon.

The plot, which has been reported by the international media as ‘the papers of Panama’, is the result of research by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and German newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung and regarded as the biggest-ever leak of its kind.

Mundo Deportivo, meanwhile, claims Messi’s camp will issue a statement on Monday and sue the media outlets who have brought this information to light.

Tags Lionel Messi Tax
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