Lionel Messi, world Footballer of the Year has
ordered his legal team to pursue legal action against Panama Papers after they
accused him of seeking refuge in Panama's tax haven, claims Messi's camp has
dismissed as “false and libelous.”
The Panama tale reported that the Barcelona star used Panamanian
company. Mega Star Enterprises to avoid paying tax on image rights deals.
Magazine El Confidencial published documents signed by Lionel Mssi and
his father Jorge buying Mega Star Enterprises, via a Uruguayan buffer company
and this was just a day after Spanish Financial authorities indicted the
Argentina striker in a case of €4million in unpaid taxes.
Read Messi's statement in full after the cut.
"In response to the news released by various media outlets in which
Lionel Messi is held responsible for the forming of a company with the aim of
'putting in place a new web of tax fraud', the Messi family wishes to make it
clear that Lionel Messi has not carried out any of the actions he is accused
of, the accusations of having ‘created a new web of tax fraud’ and, even, money
laundering, are false and libellous," the statement read.
"The Panamian company referred to in the reports is a completely
inactive company, which never held open accounts nor funds and which comes from
the former company structure put in place by Messi's previous financial
advisers, the fiscal consequences of which have already been normalised, with
all the income that comes from exploitation of his image rights, prior to and
after the procedure carried out in the courts, having been declared before the
Spanish Treasury.
"With respect to
the above, the Messi family have given instructions to their lawyers to analyse
eventual legal action against the sources that have published these
claims."
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