Lionel Messi’s name has been mentioned in the controversial Panama papers. The five-time Ballon d’Or winner has been accused of using offshore companies in Uruguay and Belize to avoid paying millions of dollars in taxes.
Messi, alongside his father Jorge Horacio Messi, who also doubled up as the superstar’s agent are set to face charges starting on 31 May for a separate by similar case. If found guilty of the offense, the 29-year-old could spend 22 months behind bars.
Here is everything you need to know about his alleged involvement in latest tax evasion scandal:
Leo Messi might be in some biiiiiig trouble.Nicole Dabeau for @TheBuzzer.
Posted by FOX Sports on Wednesday, April 6, 2016
The Argentine has been accused of short-changing the government out of more than $6.5 million in taxes by shielding his images rights in an offshore company. However, the Catalan star has insisted that he did not try to deceive any individual or government deliberately.
The leaked documents claim that Messi and his father were the owners of a private offshore company called Mega Star Enterprises, which reportedly erveed as a tax-evasion heaven for the superstar’s image deals.
The Panama Papers consist of over 11.5 million documents from a law firm called Mossack Fonseca exposing various crimes such as money laundering, arms and drugs deals, and tax evasion. The scandals involve influential persons across the world such as the likes of British, Pakistan and Iceland prime ministers, and the president of Ukraine.
It would be interesting to see how the Barcelona star will handle the latest accusations, just few weeks to the beginning of his first trial in court.
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