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Soccer star Lionel Messi has lost his appeal on his 21-month sentence for tax fraud.

by
Lee Reams II
on
5/23/2017
Soccer star Lionel Messi has lost his appeal on his 21-month sentence for tax fraud.

According to Spain’s Supreme Court, Lionel Messi has lost his appeal on his 21-month sentence for tax fraud. This is a culmination of a long court battle. The soccer star has deflected blame on people he trusted. At his 2016 trial, Messi stated "I signed them (contracts) because I trust my father. He is my father and it obviously never crossed my mind that he would fool me or disappoint me so I signed because he told me to, because I trusted him, and as I said before, the lawyers told us to do it that way."

The case was based on compensation related to image rights. Messi was accused of defrauding tax authorities of $4,700,000 between 2007 and 2009. It is unlikely that Messi will actually serve any jail time because under Spanish law any sentence under two years can be served in probation.

Messi was ordered to pay a multi-million dollar fine. It appears that this issue may be behind him as he looks to extend his soccer contract with Barcelona.

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Lee Reams II

Lee Reams II

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