Messi could get fine instead of jail term News

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Messi could get fine instead of jail term

By Daily Sports on June 24, 2017

Argentine football star, Lionel Messi may get a fine of 400 euros ($450) a day for the duration of his 21-month jail sentence for tax fraud, as option for prison term.

Prosecutors in Barcelona say they are not against replacing the 21-month jail sentence for tax fraud with a fine, a spokeswoman announced Friday.

With this option, the 29-year-old will part with more than 250 000 euros, although the court has the final decision over whether to go ahead with this option.

The daily fine would come on top of the 2.09-million-euro fine Messi was also given when he and his father Jorge Horacio Messi were found guilty of tax fraud in a trial last year and sentenced to 21 months in jail.

Both appealed, but Spain's Supreme Court last month confirmed the jail term for the Barcelona striker, although it reduced Messi's father's sentence to 15 months.

The pair used companies in Belize, Britain, Switzerland and Uruguay to avoid paying taxes on 4.16 million euros of Messi's income earned from his image rights from 2007-09.

*Photo shows Lionel Messi.

Source Daily Sports

Posted June 24, 2017