Messi in court over tax fraud hearing

Lionel Messi’s lawyer insists the Barcelona
star has provided “clear” evidence of his
innocence, amid accusations of tax evasion.
The Argentina international began court
hearings on Friday, to answer allegations
over unpaid tax on money from his image
rights.
Messi has allegedly used countries outside
of Spain – Belize and Uruguay – to sell his
image rights, circumventing Spanish tax
laws.

His father, Jorge, who made a payment of
€5 million to the tax authorities in August,
has also been implicated in the case and
he too appeared in a separate hearing to
his son.
Both men have strenuously denied the
charges that date back to 2007 and 2009,
which were originally levied against the pair
by the Economic Crimes Prosecutor
Barcelona in June.
And the pair’s legal representative,
Cristobal Martell, said Friday’s proceedings
are an opportunity for the Messi family to
cooperate with Spanish authorities in an
attempt to clear their name.
“To start a procedure like this we are
following just one instruction: to cooperate
with the administration to explain my
client’s actions and provide them with
financial information,” Martell commented.
“The instruction from the Messi family has
been to be transparent, clear and
cooperative.
“In terms of transparency, the hearings
began today and we have provided
evidence to show a complete unwillingness
[by my client] to commit fraud, a strong
effort to be transparent for the tax office
and a desire to avoid entering into any kind
of bitter fight with the State about these
matters.”