A Spanish court has decided to go ahead with the prosecution case for tax evasion against Lionel Messi.
Image courtesy of INFphoto.com
Messi, who plays forward for both the Argentina national team and Spain's Barcelona, is being accused of committing tax fraud of over 3.1 million euros between the years 2006 and 2009 by filing faulty returns. His father, Jorge Messi, is also facing the charges.
According to The International Business Times, the public prosecutor had requested the soccer player be exempt from the charges, due to the fact that it's his father who manages the finances. However, despite this recommendation, the court decided to proceed with the case against both Messi and his father, since the court declared there is evidence to suggest that Messi could have been well aware of the situation.
Reuters reported that the court even decided that Messi could have approved the creation of the shell companies that were used to commit the tax fraud.
Messi is Forbes' fourth top-earning athlete, earning over $40 million a season.