Soccer star Lionel Messi is going to face trial over tax fraud charges along with his father.
Messi supposedly defrauded Spain’s tax office of $4.5 million in unpaid taxes from 2007 to 2009. However, according to Eurosport’s Tom Adams, the judge in the case listened to the state attorney, who recommended Messi stand trial with his father Jorge, despite the previous belief that Messi had no knowledge of the alleged actions.
Messi and his father paid $5.6 million in 2013 as a “corrective payment” when they were formally charged. However, the prosecutor’s office claims revenue had been hidden using companies in Uruguay, Switzerland, Belize, and the United Kingdom.
Messi joined Barcelona FC in 2004 and became a Spanish citizen in 2005.
