Leo Messi and his father, Jorge Horacio, are about to close a deal with public prosecutors to pay the tax authorities the sum of ¤15 million, reports the Madrid newspaper 'El Mundo'.
The agreement will avoid the need for the Argentine to go on trial for tax fraud relating to the player's income from image rights between 2007 and 2009, during which time he is alleged to have defrauded the taxman to the sum of ¤4 million.
The ¤15 million are in addition to the ¤10 million which the Barcelona star paid tax authorities last week via complementary income tax returns for image rights corresponding to the 2010 and 2011 financial years, in an attempt to rectify the Argentinean player's tax situation.
Messi and his father had been summoned to appear in court on 17th September after public prosecutor Raquel Amado deemed that Messi had hidden his income from image rights from the tax authorities "in order to evade his tax obligations". According to the document, he simulated the transfer of image rights to "shell companies located in tax havens" such as Belize and Uruguay.
The crime which Messi and his father are accused of is punishable by two to six years in prison for each count and fines of up to six times the defrauded sum when the evaded amount exceeds ¤600,000.
Have you found any mistakes in this article? If so, please send us your correction
MARCA IN ENGLISH IS BROUGHT TO YOU by INTERNATIONAL COMMUNICATIONS COMPANY
© MARCA.com Avenida de San Luis 25 - 28033 MADRID Un web de Unidad Editorial