Lionel Messi In Court During Tax Fraud Trial, Denies All Knowledge Of His Money Going Offshore
- 5 years ago
Lionel Messi told a court in Barcelona on Thursday (2nd June) that he dedicated himself solely to football and had no knowledge of his income going through offshore companies as he gave evidence at his trial for tax fraud.
Lionel Messi denied having knowledge of the tax issues that led to fraud charges against him, saying on Thursday that he signed documents without reading them because he trusted his father and the advisers responsible for managing his finances.
Wearing a dark suit and tie, Messi sat alongside his father in front of the judge and listened to other testimony for nearly four hours before being called to testify in the third day of the trial.
The Barcelona player looked impatient in court at times, looking down and trying to stretch his legs.
The left foot which helps him thrive on the soccer fields kept bouncing impatiently underneath the chair.
Speaking for less than 15 minutes, he said he never suspected of any wrongdoing when his father would ask him to sign contracts or documents.
He said he did not know that part of his income was going through companies created in countries such as Uruguay, Switzerland and Belize, which authorities allege was done to lower the player's tax burden in Spain.
Messi and his father are facing three counts of tax fraud and could be sentenced to nearly two years in prison if found guilty of defrauding Spain's tax authority of 4.1 million euros ($4.5 million) from 2007-09.
They are not likely to face any jail time but could be fined and made to forfeit possible future tax benefits.
Both deny wrongdoing, and the money owed was already paid back.
The trial is expected to end on Friday with verdict and sentencing expected next week.
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Lionel Messi denied having knowledge of the tax issues that led to fraud charges against him, saying on Thursday that he signed documents without reading them because he trusted his father and the advisers responsible for managing his finances.
Wearing a dark suit and tie, Messi sat alongside his father in front of the judge and listened to other testimony for nearly four hours before being called to testify in the third day of the trial.
The Barcelona player looked impatient in court at times, looking down and trying to stretch his legs.
The left foot which helps him thrive on the soccer fields kept bouncing impatiently underneath the chair.
Speaking for less than 15 minutes, he said he never suspected of any wrongdoing when his father would ask him to sign contracts or documents.
He said he did not know that part of his income was going through companies created in countries such as Uruguay, Switzerland and Belize, which authorities allege was done to lower the player's tax burden in Spain.
Messi and his father are facing three counts of tax fraud and could be sentenced to nearly two years in prison if found guilty of defrauding Spain's tax authority of 4.1 million euros ($4.5 million) from 2007-09.
They are not likely to face any jail time but could be fined and made to forfeit possible future tax benefits.
Both deny wrongdoing, and the money owed was already paid back.
The trial is expected to end on Friday with verdict and sentencing expected next week.
Please like the video and share wherever you can!
To make sure you don't miss any of my videos
on this and my other channels please :
Subscribe to this channel : http://bit.ly/BeanymanSportsSub
Follow me on Twitter : http://www.twitter.com/Beanyman62
Check out my website : http://www.beanyman62.com
With every video I upload here : http://bit.ly/SiteVideos
Like me on Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/beanyman62
Follow me on Google+ : http://google.com/+BeanymanSports
Thanks