Barcelona’s Lionel Messi and his father Jorge Messi are in court today facing allegations of evading more than €4m in taxes on image rights.
It’s alleged tax havens in Belize and Uruguay were used to conceal more than €10m of income between 2007 and 2009 and the state attorney is asking for 22 months in prison if found guilty, AS reports, though because Messi has no criminal record, it’s not thought he would face the full sentence.
The Messi family’s defence is said to centre around the argument Lionel Messi had no knowledge of his tax affairs, and only acted on the advice of his father.
AS also notes there were more than 200 members of the Press present to see Messi arrive at the Barcelona court.
