Prosecutor brings $5M tax fraud case against Messi

(AP) Prosecutor brings $5M tax fraud case against Messi
MADRID
A tax fraud lawsuit has been filed against Barcelona star Lionel Messi for $5.3 million in unpaid income tax.

The document presented to the court on Wednesday also brings a lawsuit against his father, Jorge Horacio Messi. Both are accused of three offenses against the public purse for allegedly defrauding millions on income tax returns for 2007, 2008 and 2009.

A Spanish state prosecutor of Catalonia lodged the complaint, signed by prosecutor Raquel Amado. It has been submitted for trial at the courthouse in Gava, the Barcelona district where the Argentina forward lives.

A judge at the courthouse must accept the prosecutor’s lawsuit before charges can be brought against Messi and his father.