Madrid (AFP)
A complaint was filed Wednesday in Spain against the Argentine football star Lionel Messi and his foundation by a former employee accusing them of tax evasion, fraud and money laundering, according to the text of this complaint obtained by AFP.
The complaint, which has not yet been declared admissible by the courts, was filed by Federico Rettori, an Argentinian living on the Spanish island of Mallorca who worked for the Messi foundation.
It is directed against the FC Barcelona striker, his father Jorge, his brother Rodrigo, and "all the people, still unidentified, who in one way or another would have administered or managed funds to the Leo Messi Foundation ", according to the text of the complaint.
Last year, Mr. Rettori filed a complaint in Argentina for similar facts. According to a judicial source, a preliminary investigation is under way in this country for aggravated tax evasion and embezzlement of suspected funds to tax havens, but neither Lionel Messi nor his father is currently charged.
According to the complaint filed in Spain, the funds collected by the foundation "were originally intended for social actions, and instead they were diverted to other private activities or bank accounts different from those reported by this foundation ".
The complaint alleges that the Messi Foundation, created in Barcelona in 2007, was only registered in the regional register in 2013 and "operated without any control or accountability to any official body" between these two dates.
Punctuated with links to press articles mentioning alleged irregularities in the management of the Messi foundation, the document also ensures that for nine years, the Leo Messi Foundation Argentina has presented no report to the Argentine authorities.
? 2019 AFP