Lionel Messi charity matches investigated by money laundering police

THE Guardia Civil’s UCO unit, which pursues money laundering, is investigating Lionel Messi’s charity football matches.

The crack Guardia Civil unit is investigating bank transfers totalling €950,000 from at least two of six “Messi and his friends vsThe rest of the world” fundraisers played in the US and Latin America between 2012 and 2013.

Money raised from the matches was transferred to a company registered in Curaçao, the offshore tax paradise in the Dutch Antilles. The words “G Marin-Messi” on the counterfoils point to Guillermo Marin, a friend of the Messi family in charge of the matches, UCO alleges.

The investigation is parallel to another case brought against Messi by AEAT, Spain’s tax agency, for hiding income from image and advertising rights. The player has now deposited €5 million to offset penal responsibility in the court case that awaits him in Barcelona.

In this latest case, Guardia Civil investigators are examining an alleged Colombian connection which, with the cooperation of individuals in Spain, used the charity matches to launder profits from drugs trafficking.

As well as Guillermo Marin, Harisson Gonzalez and Andres Barco – respectively president and vice-president of Total Conciertos – are also in UCO’s sights. Barco recently acknowledged that money was still owed to the charities supposed to benefit from the matches.

Messi and his father admitted knowing Marin but denied making any personal profit from the matches. Asked who was in touch with Marin, the player answered: “Not me. My father is the one who makes contact,” echoing an earlier statement to a Barcelona judge when he claimed: “My dad sees to the money.”

The player’s Barcelona teammates who played in the matches, including Javier Mascherano, Dani Alves and Jose Manuel Pinto also denied profiting from the matches, although their travel and accommodation were paid for.

The Guuardia civil has asked for judicial permission to start new proceedings to establish who is behind the accounts .