Lionel Messi’s former tax advisers came out in support of the
football star Wednesday as his trial for alleged fraud continued in Barcelona,
saying he never handled his wealth management.
Messi, 28, and his father Jorge Horacio
Messi are accused of using fake companies in Belize and Uruguay to avoid paying
taxes on 4.16 million euros ($4.6 million) of his income earned through the
sale of his image rights from 2007-09.
The trial kicked off in Barcelona on
Tuesday, and the five-time World Player of the Year himself will take the stand
on Thursday before joining his Argentina teammates for the Copa America in the
United States.
He “didn’t take any decisions and I didn’t
see anyone consulting him for anything,” said Angel Juarez, one of the partners
at law firm Juarez Veciana which managed Messi’s tax affairs at the time.
“I don’t know if any of my correspondence
has been included in the case, but they will see that Lionel Messi does not
appear in any of it,” added Inigo de Loyola, another partner and Juarez’s
brother.
Juarez was responsible for creating several
companies in Uruguay, then considered a tax haven.
Messi’s father had hired the law firm as he
had ongoing disputes with his then adviser who was managing the footballer’s
image rights through a company based in Belize — and wanted him out.
The Barcelona firm decided to create a
mirror structure in Uruguay.
Jenbril was 100 percent owned by Messi and
he poured his image rights earnings in there, and Frosyl was where his father
deposited his commissions as the player’s agent.
These companies are the main focus of the
investigation.
Juarez acknowledged in court that it was
all about getting “maximum value” out of Messi’s earnings from endorsement
deals that included Banco Sabadell, Danone, Adidas, Pepsi-Cola, Procter &
Gamble and the Kuwait Food Company.
“Uruguay was a place where this income was
not taxable,” he said.
But he added that the structure was legal
and that he had explained all this to Messi’s father.
Both partners, who stopped working for
Messi shortly after the investigation started, were however unable to explain
why the player’s firm in Uruguay failed to appear in his wealth tax
declaration.
The Barcelona forward and his defence team
have long argued that the player’s father handled his finances without
reporting to him, and that the striker was not aware of any wrongdoing.
Both Messi and his father have been charged
with three counts of tax fraud.
Spanish prosecutors are seeking a jail
sentence of 22-and-a-half months for them if they are found guilty, plus fines
equivalent to the amount that was allegedly defrauded.
But any such sentence would likely be
suspended as is common in Spain for first offences carrying a sentence of less
than two years.
After his court appearance, Messi will jet
off to the United States, where Argentina take on Copa America defending
champions Chile in their first game of the tournament in California on Monday.
Both Barcelona and the Argentine Football
Association have supported the player, who is loudly cheered whenever he
appears on the pitch at the Spanish club’s Camp Nou stadium.
Barcelona managers have even insinuated
that there is a conspiracy to tar the image of their star player, who has been
key to the club’s success on the pitch in recent years.
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