Recently, Forbesranked Lionel Messi No. 10 on their list of the world's highest-paid athletes. He earned somewhere in the neighborhood of $40 million last year. But it sounds like he allegedly hasn't been keeping up with his taxes in recent years.
According to Spanish tax officials, Messi and his father Jorge Horacio filed fraudulent income tax returns in 2007, 2008, and 2009. It's being reported that Messi and his father allegedly sold his image to companies in other countries, including Belize and Uruguay, in order to get around having to pay taxes in Spain. And that obviously isn't sitting well with tax officials, who want Messi to pay up to $5.3 million for the fraud.
Stay tuned to see what happens in the case. There's a decent chance it could go to trial sometime in the near future.
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[via CBS Sports]
