Judge Rules Messi's Father's $6.6M Payment Meets Legal Requirement Of Tax Fraud Case

A Spanish court "declined a request by the State Agency for Tax Administration to set bail for Lionel Messi and his father in a case of alleged tax fraud after ruling that a payment made satisfied the case's legal requirements on Wednesday," according to Harold Heckle of the AP. In its ruling, a Spanish court said that a payment of more than €5M ($6.6M) made by Messi's father "made it unlikely that either Messi or his father would withhold funds 'during the legal process of a pending tax fraud trial.'" The court also said that "it was considering a request made by one of Messi's lawyers to postpone a court hearing set for Sept. 17" (AP, 9/4).