Lionel Messi - 21 month jail sentence for tax fraud

Cookie_Dough

Is his father going to prison or is he getting probation or whatever too?

GLaDOS

So wait, Messi is a garlic smuggler?

Cantona's Collars

€2 million fine,small change compared to what he avoided paying.

Domo1982

andekwarhola wrote: »

That will really go against him when he's looking for a minimum wage 9-5 after he stops playing ball.

He'll never get the Guards now!

Arghus

I wonder what AndersonisGod makes of it all..

Rayne Wooney

Ronaldo didn't celebrate with his teammates

Pickpocket

ScienceNerd wrote: »

So wait, Messi is a garlic smuggler?

No, his father is, but Messi signed all the sacks of garlic because he thought they were bags of footballs being sent over to the villa miserias in Buenos Aires. The poor innocent eejit.

Too Tough To Die

Rayne Wooney wrote: »

Ronaldo didn't celebrate with his teammates

Weak. Who cares?

Pickpocket

Domo1982 wrote: »

He'll never get the Guards now!

Stupid comment.

He's not tall enough anyway.

fyfe79

Arghus wrote: »

I wonder what AndersonisGod makes of it all..

He who invokes the dark lord invariably lives to regret one's mistake.

The_Kew_Tour

Baldy Conscience wrote: »

What kind of sentence did other first-time tax dodgers get in Spain? How does it compare to those sentences?

Harshness is relative.

It is when the average sentence is 4 years. Inside a prison cell!!!

Lovely Bloke

The_Kew_Tour wrote: »

It is when the average sentence is 4 years. Inside a prison cell!!!

for a first offence of a crime of this nature in Spain is 4 years inside?

Is it really?

Domo1982

The_Kew_Tour wrote: »

It is when the average sentence is 4 years. Inside a prison cell!!!

Ronaldo should get 4 years for that movie he made

Liam McPoyle

ScienceNerd wrote: »

So wait, Messi is a garlic smuggler?

He thought the cop was a prostitute.

Cantona's Collars

Pickpocket wrote: »

Stupid comment.

He's not tall enough anyway.

That's heightist,I'm setting up a support group for small tax avoiding footballers.

kupus

And a judge walks free when he was caught first hand with porno kiddie material on his laptop in Ireland. Whenever garlic guy gets mentioned in any thread I'm happy cos It keeps reminding people how fooked up the justice industry is.

When threads like this pop up I'm always of the opinion that when AH goes and laugh at other countries then you better have your own sh!t in order before you go and play the smug cards.

Arghus

Arghus wrote: »

I wonder what AndersonisGod makes of it all..

Something something culture history something Franco something.

The_Kew_Tour

Baldy Conscience wrote: »

for a first offence of a crime of this nature in Spain is 4 years inside?

Is it really?

Well it's between a sentence of 2 to 6 years.

So 4 is average there

Skylinehead

The_Kew_Tour wrote: »

Well it's between a sentence of 2 to 6 years.

So 4 is average there

You've just picked the middle and called it the average. If 10 people get 2 years and 1 person gets 6 years, 4 is most certainly not the average.

The_Kew_Tour

Skylinehead wrote: »

You've just picked the middle and called it the average. If 10 people get 2 years and 1 person gets 6 years, 4 is most certainly not the average.

OK well min is 2 in Spanish law.
I
I'll go to 2 sure seems like I'm not the expert.

martyos121

Skylinehead wrote: »

You've just picked the middle and called it the average. If 10 people get 2 years and 1 person gets 6 years, 4 is most certainly not the average.

Let's not bring back memories of Junior Cert maths here, please!

fyfe79

Between 2 and 6 years imprisonment if the tax evaded is over €600k. However, for a first offence, the judge can suspend the sentence if it's under 2 years.

http://www.eatlp.org/uploads/public/2015/National%20report%20Spain.pdf

It seems to me that Messi has been lucky to receive a sentence under 2 years considering the fraud is, what, about €4m? You would think this amount would incur a higher term assuming the punishment to be linear.

armabelle

How Soon Is Now wrote: »

I'd love to see him serve the whole time!

is it envy? or just that you really believe strongly in the tax regime?

KaiserGunner

Yeah sounds like he got off lucky alright, but doubt anyone is really surprised. This is what happens when society makes people into gods, they will act like it and get away with most things that ordinary joe soap wouldn't. Barcelona will probably pay the fine for him too.

JinkyJackson

Messi and his Dad

Neymar and his Dad

Javier Macherano

Xabi Alonso

Iker Casilias


Spanish accountants must be fairly sh!t.

Messi suspended sentence

Macherano suspended sentence

Neymar fined 45million

Spanish justice system fairly ****

Augme

BoJack Horseman wrote: »

What is odd is that nearly half of the posts in this thread are yours!

Is lionel a family member or something?

No one wants to hang the guy by his thumbs.
But you can forgive us poor peons for feeling surprise at such a lenient sentence.

How is such a leinant sentence? Can you provide examples of other 1st time tax offenders in Spain who got significantly longer sentences?

castletownman

"He's fraud(ster) Bill"- Eamon Dunphy

Andersonisgod

fyfe79 wrote: »

He who invokes the dark lord invariably lives to regret one's mistake.

You rang?

As per Dermot Corrigan (esteemed journalist of Spanish football) the prosecution themselves asked for a sentence of less than 2 years. Some even saying prosecutors asked that he be cleared. Stats attorney pushed for a prosecution. If the prosecutors ask for a sentence of less than 2 years then it's frankly ridiculous that there are those outraged that Messi received (shock horror!) less than 2 years. And that was me throwing my hat into the ring to be considered Boards.ie's expert on all things Spanish tax related.

The_Kew_Tour

Lol

The_Kew_Tour

The_Kew_Tour wrote: »

Lol

The_Kew_Tour

M!Ck^ wrote: »

Feed me!!!

beer enigma

Baldy Conscience wrote: »

No.

Is he on an Argentinian passport or a Spanish one ? - I know someone with an Argentinian passport that was done for a lesser amount for a similar offence and he does have problems travelling because of it.

Pickpocket

MD1990 wrote: »

So during these years Messi was between the ages of 18-21. He probably had nothing to with it at all & his father was probably handling it.

martyos121 wrote: »

We don't know that for certain though, as likely as it sounds. At that age he probably wasn't fully aware/particularly bothered about potential consequences, if he had a part in it directly at all. Big if too of course.

A firm that I previously worked for done 'asset protection' for some of its clients. These were extremely wealthy, very successful and assertive individuals, yet they'd sit in the corner of the room, nodding along as various options were hammered out between the acting solicitor and various advisers. Very little input.

Ultimately people like Messi are liable for the deals they get themselves into, and that could include criminal liability, but you have to question their level of knowledge and involvement. I done a semester of tax law in Uni, and touch upon it somewhat in the workplace, and it's obscenely convoluted. Messi may have nodded along to what was proposed, and that's absolutely enough for a criminal prosecution because he's not an imbecile, but my real scorn is reserved for the types of people whose entire professional life is predicated on this type stuff.

J. Marston

Arghus wrote: »

I wonder what AndersonisGod makes of it all..

Watch as Messi weaves through the Spanish justice system! Majestic!

Shanotheslayer

KaiserGunner wrote: »

Yeah sounds like he got off lucky alright, but doubt anyone is really surprised. This is what happens when society makes people into gods, they will act like it and get away with most things that ordinary joe soap wouldn't. Barcelona will probably pay the fine for him too.

Utter nonsense of a post tbh.

In work, not sure if link will work correctly, but an interesting read:


https://twitter.com/RafaelH117/status/738885560580853760/photo/1

Arghus

I wonder what my winning lottery ticket makes of it all.

LuckyLloyd

Shanotheslayer wrote: »

Utter nonsense of a post tbh.

In work, not sure if link will work correctly, but an interesting read:


https://twitter.com/RafaelH117/status/738885560580853760/photo/1

I knew even before I clicked on the link that the conclusion would be 'something someone Franco something bias someone conspiracy blah blah'.

chopperbyrne

gimmick wrote: »

He presumably will pay the back tax, along with a substantial fine and can go on to earn more money now on which you can be pretty sure he/someone will pay the tax on. Putting him in prison would cost the taxpayer money. Some community service is far more beneficial than a custodial sentence. Not like he killed/harmed anyone.

Also, using the garlic importer guy is a poor example to use as that was a ridiculous sentence. But he was misdeclaring garlic on which there isa very high rate of duty on as something with zero duty on. He knowingly was breaking the law. Still overly harsh though and would be better served doing community service rather than costing those of us who have jobs money in our taxes. People in Ireland have been given smaller sentences for manslaughter ffs.

Not directly, but he took €4.1m out of public expenditure. Can't possibly say what indirect consequences it had.

Shanotheslayer

LuckyLloyd wrote: »

I knew even before I clicked on the link that the conclusion would be 'something someone Franco something bias someone conspiracy blah blah'.

To be honest if true, the judge worked with Perez, that is definitely a conflict of interest.

The_Kew_Tour

Barca or Madrid story always comes up with a Conspiracy or 100

Kobe248

Andersonisgod wrote: »

You rang?

As per Dermot Corrigan (esteemed journalist of Spanish football) the prosecution themselves asked for a sentence of less than 2 years. Some even saying prosecutors asked that he be cleared. Stats attorney pushed for a prosecution. If the prosecutors ask for a sentence of less than 2 years then it's frankly ridiculous that there are those outraged that Messi received (shock horror!) less than 2 years. And that was me throwing my hat into the ring to be considered Boards.ie's expert on all things Spanish tax related.

Its funny everyone thinking they know anything about Spanish taxes

Everyone seems to want to throw a kick when hes down

They do the same with Ronaldo

Its super boring

There will be people going all yo yo tonight between this thread and the Portugal thread tonight

Id put my hat on it

LuckyLloyd

Shanotheslayer wrote: »

To be honest if true, the judge worked with Perez, that is definitely a conflict of interest.

If true

Too simple that Messi and his Dad have been skimming their tax returns for years; utilising professional services to aid them in such an endeavour and have got an essential rap on the knuckles for same.

Nope, must be a Franco / Madrid conspiracy somehow.

Flint Fredstone

If your average guy on the street would get a custodial sentence then he should get a custodial sentence. Sadly, that's not the way the justice system works, anywhere.

Maximus Alexander

If anything Messi did the Spanish government and the people of Spain a favour here somehow. No doubt.

CSF

Andersonisgod wrote: »

You rang?

As per Dermot Corrigan (esteemed journalist of Spanish football) the prosecution themselves asked for a sentence of less than 2 years. Some even saying prosecutors asked that he be cleared. Stats attorney pushed for a prosecution. If the prosecutors ask for a sentence of less than 2 years then it's frankly ridiculous that there are those outraged that Messi received (shock horror!) less than 2 years. And that was me throwing my hat into the ring to be considered Boards.ie's expert on all things Spanish tax related.

Did you not say you were stopping posting here? During which time numerous people on here have had their attention directed to quotes from yourself admitting to devoting your posting time here entirely to trolling?

Cienciano

Andersonisgod wrote: »

You rang?

As per Dermot Corrigan (esteemed journalist of Spanish football) the prosecution themselves asked for a sentence of less than 2 years. Some even saying prosecutors asked that he be cleared. Stats attorney pushed for a prosecution. If the prosecutors ask for a sentence of less than 2 years then it's frankly ridiculous that there are those outraged that Messi received (shock horror!) less than 2 years. And that was me throwing my hat into the ring to be considered Boards.ie's expert on all things Spanish tax related.

Sorry we don't want facts here, Messi deserves to be in jail, the mob has spoken. Tax law around the world follows the precedent of garlic man

Mickeroo

Let's stick to the topic at hand here please ie Lionel Messi and not other posters.

LiamoSail

I think jailing him would have been ridiculous. It's not as if he didn't pay tax, he just didn't pay enough. He's probably in the top 1% of personal contributors to Spanish tax revenues, they should be grateful for his financial contribution to the country. He's done far more to fund services in Spain than most through his tax contributions. I think a fine is absolutely fair to both parties.

castletownman

http://waterfordwhispersnews.com/2016/07/06/ronaldo-confirms-he-could-get-life-in-prison-if-he-wanted/

Some appropriate satire from WWN considering the debates between the two that surface on this site quite regularly

Dirty Dingus McGee

LiamoSail wrote: »

I think jailing him would have been ridiculous. It's not as if he didn't pay tax, he just didn't pay enough. He's probably in the top 1% of personal contributors to Spanish tax revenues, they should be grateful for his financial contribution to the country. He's done far more to fund services in Spain than most through his tax contributions. I think a fine is absolutely fair to both parties.

And maybe Messi should be grateful for all the hard working people in Spain who pay his wages and yet manage to pay their taxes without trouble.