The ManicaPost
BARCELONA superstar Lionel Messi has been hit with yet more fraud claims following allegations that his ‘Leo Messi Foundation’ has been used to hide millions in undeclared income over the years.
The result of documentation and testimonies between 2007 and 2015, Spanish national newspaper ABC has accused Messi’s charitable organisation of hiding ‘at least’ €10m from authorities in Spain and Argentina where the Foundation has offices. And because so much went undeclared it therefore cannot actually be proven that money was specifically used to fund the charitable causes for which the Foundation was established. It is claimed that income has been masked by using as many as three bodies with almost identical names but different registrations, with sources alleging that the Messi Foundation has essentially been an ‘umbrella’ to cover some of the family’s private business.
ABC explains that the Foundation, which began operations as early as 2007, was not registered in Spain until 2013, six years after its activities started. An Argentine branch in Messi’s home city of Rosario had also been set up in 2009, long before the parent organisation had even been officially declared.— 90Min
