today-is-a-good-day
4.3 C
New York
Friday, March 29, 2024
HomeNewsMessi To Appeal Against Tax Fraud Ruling

Messi To Appeal Against Tax Fraud Ruling

Barcelona football star Lionel Messi will appeal against a Spanish court decision to sentence him to 21 months in jail for tax fraud, the player’s lawyers say.
Argentine Messi, aged 29, was sentenced to 21 months in jail and fined €2m euros (£1.7m; $2.2m).
Messi’s father, Jorge, was handed the same sentence with a €1.5m fine for defrauding Spain of €4.1m in 2007-09.
However, neither man is expected to serve time in jail.
Under the Spanish legal system, prison terms of under two years can be served under probation.
The pair also face millions of euros in fines for using tax havens in Belize and Uruguay to conceal earnings from image rights.
“The sentence is not correct and we are confident the appeal will show the defence was right,” Messi’s lawyers said in a statement several hours after the guilty verdict was delivered by the court in Barcelona, Reuters reports.
The lawyers added that Messi had always acted in good faith.
The sentence can be appealed against via the Spanish supreme court.
The footballer and his father were found guilty of three counts of tax fraud.
As well as the jail terms, Messi and Jorge were also fined. They made a voluntary €5m “corrective payment”, equal to the alleged unpaid tax plus interest, in August 2013, reports the BBC.

Advertisements
Advertisements

RELATED ARTICLES

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

- Advertisment -

Most Popular

Recent Comments

Onuegbu Chuks Theophilus on Mikel Obi quits Super Eagles
Thomas H. Anderson on Roman Goddess_3
Oladimeji Emmanuel on Obama sends investors to Buhari