Lionel Messi has seen charges of tax evasion against him dropped as prosecutors in Catalunya instead seek 18 months' imprisonment for his father, Jorge Messi, according to GOAL. The Barcelona player had been accused of avoiding €4.1M in tax obligations from '07-09, related to payments on image rights. But Spanish authorities "opted to get rid of the charges against him, marking his father as the sole person responsible for the alleged fraudulent acts." The prosecutor's ruling explained, "It is not plausible to think that his unawareness of events was intentional, or carried out seeking to defraud the Public Treasury" (GOAL, 10/6). MARCA reported throughout the legal process, the public prosecutors involved "have expressed doubts" about Messi's incrimination in the tax offenses in question. Indeed, after the 28-year-old testified in court, "they asked for the case against him to be dropped as they concluded that he was completely unaware of the goings-on." On the other hand, the Spanish State Legal Service, which represents the tax authorities' interests, "has always maintained (and continues to argue) that the player may have given his blessing to the fraudulent schemes" (MARCA, 10/6).
