Spanish judge rules Messi shouldn’t post bail in tax fraud case after his father makes payment

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Barcelona\'s Lionel Messi from Argentina celebrates after scoring against Valencia during their La Liga soccer match at the Mestalla stadium in Valencia, Spain, Sunday, Sept. 1, 2013. (AP Photo/Alberto Saiz)

MADRID – A Spanish court has declined a request by the State Agency for Tax Administration to set bail for Lionel Messi and his father in a case of alleged tax fraud after ruling that a payment made satisfied the case’s legal requirements.

In a ruling published on Wednesday, a Catalan court says that a payment of more than 5 million euros ($6.6 million) made by Jorge Horacio Messi, the Barcelona star’s father, made it unlikely that either Messi or his father would withhold funds “during the legal process of a pending tax fraud trial.”

The complaint, originally lodged by Raquel Amado, a state prosecutor for the northeastern region of Catalonia, alleged Messi tried to conceal the extent of his earnings and he owes 4 million euros ($5.3 million) in back taxes.

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