Spanish newspaper El Mundo reported over the weekend that the father of Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi has for months been under investigation by Spanish authorities for laundering money belonging to Colombian drug cartels. The paper wrote that Jorge Messi may have taken part in a scheme involving the Lionel Messi Foundation, his son's charity organization, in which events sponsored by the organization - such as "Amigos de Messi" fundraising games as well as rock concerts put on by South American musical stars - were used to help launder millions of euros for drug traffickers, who as yet have not been named.
The paper reports that the Unidad Central Operativa (UCO) of the Civil Guard, a Spanish federal police agency, suspects that the cartels bought massive amounts of tickets to seats in "Row 0" for the star-filled charity soccer games in which the "Amigos de Messi" ("Messi and Friends") squared off against "El Resto del Mundo" ("Everybody Else"), as well as rock concerts put on for similar ends. The UCO believes that Jorge Messi, who served as the "contact" for the cartels, collected a commission of between 10 and 20 percent of the fake ticket sales to pay his son and other soccer stars for their appearances at the events. Investigators have questioned Jorge Messi's son as well as Dani Alves, José Manuel Pinto and Javier Mascherano in connection. Both Messis deny involvement.
It's not the first time the Messis have come under the lens of Spanish authorities. In September the elder Messi struck a deal with tax authorities there, paying about five million euros in back taxes after his son was threatened with prosecution for tax evasion. Both have denied any wrongdoing over the earlier accusations by a Spanish judge that they had defrauded the authorities for more than 4 million euros. They say that Jorge Messi is responsible for the finances of his son.
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