Former Barcelona president Joan Laporta went on Thursday in defense of Lionel Messi, who has been accused of evading taxes, and said he was "convinced that neither Leo nor his father had committed offenses." According to the indictment, the player would have withheld 4 million (approximately U.S. $ 11.4 million) using tax havens. If found guilty, the Argentine could be sentenced to prison, according to experts.
"They have no responsibility in these stories. Third parties that may be responsible. I know them and always wanted to act within the law. Therefore acted with the club, at least when I was president," said Laporta radio Cope.
The prosecutor Rachel Amado said that between 2006 and 2009, Messi received significant revenue from the sale of the rights to your image. Laporta, who chaired FC Barcelona between 2003 and 2010, said that under his administration, Messi controlled 100% of the profits from the use of their image.
He added that the club was still a common practice in which paid 15% of salary Messi for a company that ran its image. He said he did not remember where the company was based. "If it was a company out of Spain, and declared it would be a society in this sense was a society within the law," he said.
