Barcelona’s Messi Sentenced to 21 Months in Jail for Tax Fraud

Local Editor

A court in Spain on Wednesday sentenced Barcelona striker Lionel Messi and his father to 21 months in jail for tax fraud and slapped them with a fine of 3.7 million euros [$4.1 million].

But these prison sentences are likely to be suspended as is common in Spain for first offenses for non-violent crimes carrying a sentence of less than two years.

The Argentina and Barcelona star and his father Jorge Horacio Messi were found guilty of using companies in Belize and Uruguay to avoid paying taxes on 4.16 million euros of Messi's income earned from his image rights from 2007-09.

The income related to Messi's image rights that was allegedly hidden includes endorsement deals with Banco Sabadell, Danone, Adidas, Pepsi-Cola, Procter & Gamble and the Kuwait Food Company.

However, the Barcelona star will appeal and vowed to clear his name the player's lawyers said.

The prison sentences are likely to be suspended as is common in Spain for first offences for non-violent crimes carrying a sentence of less than two years.

The Argentine's lawyers feel an appeal would eventually succeed in persuading the court that Messi and his father have behaved correctly, the player's representatives told AFP in a statement.

"The most recent laws from the supreme court on the matter that concerns us would seem to prove the argument of the defence," Messi's lawyers Enrique Bacigalupo and Javier Sanchez-Vera asserted.

Messi told the court during the four-day trial that wrapped up on June 4 that he trusted his father with his finances and "knew nothing" about how his wealth was managed.

Prosecutors had asked for Messi to be absolved, arguing there was no evidence that the player was aware of how his income was managed.

Messi's tax fraud trial has taken place against a backdrop of simmering voter anger over steep cuts to health and social spending, as the government struggles to bring Spain's public deficit down.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team