Household Bills
Messi makes £4m payment in tax fraud case
Barcelona footballer Lionel Messi and his father Jorge have paid €5m to Spanish authorities after they were accused of filing inaccurate tax returns, according to reports.
A court statement said the pair made a “corrective payment” last month, according to news agency Reuters.
The duo are due to appear at a hearing later this month over allegations they filed incomplete tax returns for the years 2006 to 2009.
The sale of Messi’s image rights had been “hidden” via a web of shell companies, Catalonia prosecutors claim, according to the news agency.
Reuters quoted Messi (pictured) as saying: “I never take care of that stuff myself and neither does my father.”
“We have our lawyers and our wealth managers to take care of that and we trust them and they will sort this out,” he added, speaking in July.
“The truth is that I don’t have a clue about all this and that is why we have people taking care of it.
