足球巨星梅西因逃稅獲刑21個月
Barcelona soccer star Lionel Messi sentenced to 21 Months' jail
Barcelona's Argentinian soccer star Lionel Messi has been sentenced to 21 months in prison and fined 2 million euros ($2.2 million) after being found guilty of three counts of tax fraud, a court in the Spanish city said on Wednesday.
巴塞羅那地方法院周三宣判,來自阿根廷的巴薩球星里奧•梅西因三項偷逃稅款的指控,被判21個月監禁,并處罰金200萬歐元（220萬美元）.
The court handed the same jail sentence to the Argentine soccer player's father, Jorge, and fined him 1.5 million euros. However, in Spain it is customary that those sentenced to under two years for non-violent crimes do not serve time in jail.
這位阿根廷足球運動員的父親豪爾赫也獲刑21個月,罰款150萬歐元.然而,依據西班牙的慣例,非暴力犯罪且監禁期不足兩年的人不必入獄服刑.
Messi, 29, and his father were accused by the Spanish tax office of defrauding the government of 4.2 million euros ($4.7 million) in tax between 2007 and 2009.
西班牙稅務部門指控現年29歲的梅西及其父親在2007至2009年間偷逃國家稅款420萬歐元（470萬美元）.
The court found that they had used a web of shell companies to evade taxes on income from the player's image rights.
法庭發現他們利用一系列空殼公司,偷逃梅西肖像權收入的稅款.
Messi, five-times World Player of the Year, said during the trial that he had no knowledge of the dealings and that his father had control over his financial affairs. But the court said this was not enough for him to avoid charges.
曾五度榮獲國際足聯金球獎的梅西在審判中表示,他對逃稅行為并不知情,其財務事宜均由父親管控.但法院稱這一說法不足以使其免于指控.
The defendants can appeal to the supreme court, the Barcelona local court said in its statement.
巴塞羅那地方法院在聲明中說,被告可以向最高法院進行上訴.
Messi and his father had already paid 5 million euros to the tax authorities as a "corrective" measure after formal investigations were opened.
此前,梅西父子已在正式調查啟動后向稅務機關繳納了500萬歐元作為"改正"措施.
The footballer is 10th on Forbes Magazine's list of the world's highest-earning athletes over the past decade, with an estimated income of $350 million during this period.
在美國商業雜志《福布斯》發布的過去十年收入最高運動員排行榜上,梅西位列第十.據估算,其十年內的總收入達3.5億美元.
英文來源：赫芬頓郵報
