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Lionel Messi and his father saw their suspended prison sentences for tax fraud reduced to fines by a Barcelona court on Friday.
The pair had been convicted of hiding image rights royalties in offshore accounts and had been given suspended jail terms of 21 and 15 months.
Messi will pay 252,000 euros ($287,000) and his father 180,000 euros.
Messi will not spend any time in jail after the Barcelona court agreed that his 21-month prison sentence for tax fraud could be replaced with a fine of around €252,000.
Messi’s father Jorge, whose original sentence was reduced to 15 months upon appeal, has also seen his punishment exchanged for a fine of around €180,000.
Prosecutors first said last month that they were not opposed to the Barca star being fined €400 per day for the duration of the sentence, an option also put forward by the player’s defence team.
A judge has now accepted that proposition put forward by prosecutors by making what should be the final decision in a case which has been ongoing for a number of years.
Messi and his father were both found guilty of three counts of tax fraud totalling €4.7 million last year. In addition to their sentences, they were ordered to pay fines of €2m and €1.5m respectively.
AFP