Soccer star Lionel Messi is cleared of a few tax fraud charges

Lionel Messi has been cleared of tax charges by Spanish prosecutors, but a case will be pursued against his father, Jorge.

According to the prosecutor’s office, the United Kingdom played host to one of these shell companies used to hide revenue as well as Uruguay, Belize and Switzerland.

“It has not proven that his [Lionel Messi’s] lack of knowledge was deliberate or was done with the aim of defrauding the public purse”.

However, the lawyers will continue to uphold the charges against his father Jorge Messi.

The alleged fraud took place between 2007 and 2009.

Messi and his father paid 5 million euros to the tax authorities as a “corrective payment” after they were formally charged in June 2013.

The decision is considered a win for Lionel Messi, who also had been mentioned in the investigation.

While the court ruled that Messi should not be granted indemnity for not knowing about his own finances, he will no longer face prosecution for the same.

Their opinion on the case is yet to be published. The income relates to Messi’s image rights, which include deals with companies such as Adidas and Pepsi.