“I play football,” Lionel Messi said on June 2 before the criminal court in Barcelona. “I have never read through the contracts, I do not know what it says. To the coal ( “de la plata”), my dad took care of. “This carelessness in handling his papers and tax matters, held in recordings from the courtroom, Spain broadcasters have repeatedly yesterday again with relish. Because she has the 29 years old Star FC Barcelona introduced a prison sentence of 21 months – though probably on probation. The same penalty was imposed after three years of proceedings against his father Jorge, the district court in Barcelona.
The court has evidence to have both 2007, 2008 and 2009 taxes of 4.1 million euros evaded , Messi will also pay a fine of two million euros, 1.6 million euros his father. The evaded amount they had previously referred to the Spanish tax authorities, which may have had an impact mitigation.
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the defender Messis were unsure until the end of the hearing that the court would not condemn the player, but only his father. The defense also submitted an expert opinion to prove inadequate education Messis. The prosecutor dismissed this argument, contrary to the attitude of the Spanish tax office, which was represented by its own accusers in court.
Carlos Cruzado, spokesman for the union of the Spanish financial officer, commented on the defense strategy before the verdict with a tired smile: “Well, there pushes you blame then to the father, to the spouse or to the accountant.” Such cases give it a lot, never had a dish therefore exempt anyone from the obligation to pay his taxes. Cruzado even feared, the court could even set a dangerous precedent, out of fear, to condemn a famous footballer: “When penetrated this reasoning, then soon no tax evaders sentenced more who has not extensive fiscal knowledge.”
As far as it is now not come. Rather, the Court has stated that Messi must have known that it takes enormous amounts of advertising contracts. He would also have to worry about paying the taxes required for this transaction. Instead, the football player and his father had knitted a complex corporate network through which the money was transferred to tax havens and might end up in accounts in Switzerland. “Those who ignore a law, it can not emerge as a winner. The message to the citizens would be that it is better not to look after their own affairs, “it says in the court’s opinion.
A certain sense of wrongdoing must Lionel have and Jorge Messi also had quite. Because as early as 2013, as the control method started, Lionel Messi has refilled an additional tax return for the years 2010 and 2011 and paid subsequently 10 million euros. Messi wants to appeal the decision before the Supreme Court of Spain, FC Barcelona, in which he is still standing until 2018 under contract has assured him of this case support. In a statement to several Spanish media, the lawyers of Messis designated the judgment of the District Court as “incorrect”. They would therefore appeal Spain appeal to the Supreme Court and was confident that there would be for both clients at the end of an acquittal.
However, could the court then impose a longer sentence and five-time World Footballer then actually send to jail. For it, the district court has now waived. Spanish dishes consist of imprisonment of up to two years in non-convicted offenders usually on probation. For this reason, has already accepted a prison sentence of one year for tax evasion in the amount of 1.5 million euros in June of also playing for Barcelona Argentinian Javier Mascherano. Follow Father and son Messi the example, they would not have though behind bars. But they were convicted criminals.
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