Lionel Messi prepared for 'Panama Papers' legal action after he was linked to tax evasion scam

Lionel Messi and his family are considering legal action after the Barcelona star was linked to tax evasion projects by ‘the Panama Papers’ - claims they dismiss as “false and libellous.” The Argentina captain, who is due in court soon along with father Jorge over tax evasion charges, is accused of “setting up a tax fraud network” by using Panamanian company Mega Star Enterprises to avoid paying tax on image rights deals.

Documents reproduced by Madrid-based daily El Confidencial show both the signatures of Messi and his father in acquiring the dormant Mega Star Enterprises, via a Uruguayan buffer company, just one day after being indicted by Spanish fiscal authorities over a separate case worth an alleged €4million in unpaid taxes.

However, Messi’s statement denies all charges. 

"In response to the news released by various media outlets in which Lionel Messi is held responsible for the forming of a company with the aim of 'putting in place a new web of tax fraud', the Messi family wishes to make it clear that Lionel Messi has not carried out any of the actions he is accused of, the accusations of having ‘created a new web of tax fraud’ and, even, money laundering, are false and libellous," the statement read.

"The Panamian company referred to in the reports is a completely inactive company, which never held open accounts nor funds and which comes from the former company structure put in place by Messi's previous financial advisers, the fiscal consequences of which have already been normalised, with all the income that comes from exploitation of his image rights, prior to and after the procedure carried out in the courts, having been declared before the Spanish Treasury.

"With respect to the above, the Messi family have given instructions to their lawyers to analyse eventual legal action against the sources that have published these claims."

The paper trail, published in Spain by El Confidencial but globally by a number of leading titles, originates from an enormous leak of over two terabytes of information from Mossack Fonseca, a company in Panama that specialises in offshore businesses.