New ‘dirt’ in Lionel Messi ‘tax evasion’ scandal has emerged

Sports Nilgun Salim
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After he was so close to being sentenced to 21 months behind bars, Leo Messi is the center of another scandal

According to ABC daily, the Argentinian used his own charity to hide the revenue generated by the defrauding.

The journalists from the Spanish daily claim the ‘Leo Messi Foundation’ created this hidden branch, especially to hide tens of millions generated by undeclared sponsorship contracts.

The foundation cannot confirm if the money has been spent on social projects or in personal purposes.

ABC reports Messi’s institution acted as an “umbrella for the revenue earned between 2007 and 2015”, stating that at least ten million euros were not declared to the Spanish or Argentine authorities.

Moreover, ABC writes the foundation became operational six years before its official registration.

In 2007, the charity started its activity in Barcelona and in May 2009, Messi along with his father opened an office in Rosario, the hometown of the famous football player.

Basically, the non-governmental organization was officially registered in Barcelona in 2013, when the foundation was not operational in Spain.

Through the Rosario office, the contracts were signed on behalf of the NGO in Argentina and on behalf of the one in the Iberian country, without declaring the income.

As a matter of fact, ABC writes, the South American tax authorities have suspended Messi’s Rosario-based NGO because they have not presented their accounts for three consecutive years.