Messi accused of money laundering for charitable foundation

Lionel Messi accused of money laundering: The Argentine star and his father are indicted in Argentina over allegations of money laundering.

An Argentine prosecutor, Pablo Turano, has called for an investigation into Lionel Messi’s charitable foundation (The Leo Messi Foundation), over financial irregularities.

Lionel Messi and his father Jorge have been accused of alleged money laundering for their charitable organization.

Argentine media outlet ‘La Nacion’ has reported that the allegations are on the basis of the donations received by the organization in Messi’s native country.

An ex-employee of the foundation is one of the major sources for the prosecutor Turano in the case. The employee has revealed supposed irregularities over some of the financial transactions within the foundation.

It is reported by La Nacion that the funds were not used appropriately, and it is not known where the money received was used.

A member of Lionel Messi’s team, meanwhile, has denied the allegations. The unknown member stated that the allegations are false and ‘complaints are baseless’.

Similar accusations were put against Lionel Messi and his father over two years ago, over an initiative named ‘Messi and Friends.’

The Argentine played various football matches across the globe to generate funds for the foundation, but the whereabouts of the money collected are still unknown. Messi, however, is not proven guilty in the case yet.

In Spain, Lionel Messi was given a 21-month prison sentence last year over a tax fraud of 4.1 million euros. However, it was changed to a fine when Messi accepted to pay 252,000 euros as a fine.