Lionel Messi used UK shell corporations to evade tax worth more than £3 million, Spanish prosecutors have alleged.
The Barcelona footballer and his father, Jorge, face a tax fraud trial in Spain over claims that he used a web of overseas companies, including two in the UK, to avoid paying income tax on his image rights between 2007 and 2009.
Documents filed by the Spanish prosecutor, Raquel Amado, allege that the income from his image rights, which covers Messi’s promotional work and brand, were routed through a string of companies in the UK and Switzerland, before ending up in Uruguay and the tax haven of Belize.
The companies were registered to nominee owners and overseas shareholders, allowing Messi and his father to keep secret that