Barcelona FC striker, Lionel Messi and his father have been sentenced to 21 months for tax fraud, but will not have to go to prison due to Spanish laws regarding non-violent crimes, where prison sentences under two years do not require any incarceration.
The five-time Ballon d'Or and his father appeared in court on 2 June having being accused of avoiding €4.1m (£3.5m, $4.5m) in tax on the Barcelona's star's earnings by using off-shore companies located in Belize and Uruguay between 2007 and 2009, according to Spanish publication El Periodico.
They already paid the Spanish authorities a voluntary corrective payment of around €5m after being formally charged in 2013, but state lawyers decided to continue the case by requesting a prison sentence.
Messi himself has denied, in court, any knowledge of the attempts to avoid paying taxing, claiming that he signed documents without reading as he trusted his father and the lawyers responsible for managing his finances.
Source: International Business Times
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