FC Barcelona Star Messi Smiles To Court: Himself And Father Charged With Tax Fraud

Lionel Messi and his father Jorge arrived in a Spanish court early hours of Friday September 27th to answer charges meted on them as regards tax fraud. Messi and his father were accused for hiding well over £3.4 million by filing incomplete tax returns from 2006 to 2009.

The four time FIFA footballer of the year was charged in June 2013 but they both denied vehemently.

"I never take care of that (tax) stuff myself and neither does my father," Messi said in July. "We have our lawyers and our wealth managers to take care of that and we trust them and they will sort this out. The truth is I don’t have a clue about all this and that is why we have people taking care of it."

Messi is said to have paid the Spanish authorities the unpaid tax he's owing plus interest (£4.2m) tax fraud been a  serious offense in Spain, he still has to make an appearance in court where the courts will determine whether the case is pursued any further or discharged.