Messi pays €5 million in tax fraud case

The Argentine made the "corrective payment"
in August after being accused of filing
incomplete documents between 2006 and 2009
Lionel Messi and his father have paid €5
million to Spanish authorities as part of an
investigation into alleged tax fraud, a court
statement has revealed.
The Barcelona star was accused of "hiding"
more than €4m earlier this year having failed
to file complete tax returns between 2006 and
2009, although both the 26-year-old and Messi
Snr. denied all wrongdoing.
A court in Gava has now confirmed the duo
have made a "corrective payment" of
€5,016,542.27, though they will still be
required to attend a legal hearing on
September 17.
"We have our lawyers and our wealth managers
to take care of that and we trust them and
they will sort this out," Messi said of the issue
earlier this summer.
"The truth is that I don't have a clue about all
this and that is why we have people taking care
of it."
Messi earns a combined total of more than
€40m per year through wages and sponsorship
deals, placing him 10th on the latest Forbes
rich list for athletes.
The Argentina international is not the only top-
level football professional to become
embroiled in tax problems this year. At the end
of July, Bayern Munich president Uli Hoeness
was formally charged with tax fraud after
failing to declare on a Swiss bank account.