BARCELONA, SPAIN — Barcelona forward Lionel Messi and his father, Jorge, have been summoned by a Spanish court for questioning as part of an investigation into tax fraud allegations.
A court in the town of Gava near Barcelona accepted a state prosecutor’s complaint, which accuses Messi and his father of defrauding the Spanish tax office of 4 million euros ($5.3 million).
Messi and his father have been called to appear for questioning Sept. 17. That will form part of an investigation to determine whether there are grounds to officially charge them with tax evasion.
The court accepted the complaint lodged by prosecutor Raquel Amada on June 12 accusing the pair of not paying the correct taxes from revenue earned from image rights on Messi’s income tax returns from the years 2007, 2008 and 2009.
