Lionel Messi handed jail term in Spain for tax fraud

Argentina and Barcelona footballer Lionel Messi has been sentenced to 21 months in prison for tax fraud.

His father, Jorge Messi, was also given a jail term for defrauding Spain of €4.1m (£3.5m; $4.5m) between 2007 and 2009.

They also face millions of euros in fines for using tax havens in Belize and Uruguay to conceal earnings from image rights.

However, neither man is expected to serve time in jail.

Under the Spanish system, prison terms of under two years can be served under probation.

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The footballer and his father were found guilty of three counts of tax fraud in Wednesday's ruling by the court in Barcelona.

As well as the jail terms, Messi was fined about €2m and his father €1.5m. They made a voluntary €5m "corrective payment", equal to the alleged unpaid tax plus interest, in August 2013.

The sentence can be appealed against via the Spanish supreme court.

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Lionel Messi's illustrious career:

Messi unlikely to serve time, in spite of 21-month jail sentence Read more at: http://www.sulyben.blogspot.com /2016/07/messi-unlikely-serve-time-spite-21-month-jail-sentence/

FC Barcelona’s Argentine football star Lionel Messi is unlikely to serve time, even though he was sentenced on Wednesday to 21 months in prison by a court in Spain.


Read more at: http://www.sulyben.blogspot.com /2016/07/messi-unlikely-serve-time-spite-21-month-jail-sentence/
Messi was also fined two million euros (about 2.2 million dollars), after being found guilty of three counts of tax fraud. The Barcelona court handed the same sentence to the player’s father, Jorge, with a 1.5 million euro fine. Both defendants have around five days to appeal to the Supreme Court, the Barcelona court said in its statement. NAN reports however that Spanish law is such that any sentence under two years for a non-violent crime rarely requires a defendant without previous convictions to serve jail time. A spokeswoman for the court confirmed Messi was unlikely to be imprisoned. Messi, 29, and his father defrauded the Spanish tax office of almost 4.2 million euros between 2007 and 2009 by using a web of shell companies to evade taxes on income. The income was from the player’s image rights, the court said in a written ruling. The companies — with names such as Sport Consultants and Sport Enterprises — were based in tax havens such as Belize, Uruguay and Switzerland. These are countries where legislation kept the identities of their owners secret, according to the ruling. Messi, five-times World Player of the Year, admitted during the trial to signing contracts protecting his image rights. He however said he had no knowledge he was partaking in any wrongdoing or defrauding the Spanish state. Messi said his father had control over his financial affairs, but the court said on Wednesday that this was not enough to avoid charges. “(His) avoidable ignorance, which was derived from indifference, is not an error, and it does not remove responsibility,” the presiding judge, Mercedes Armas Galve, wrote in the statement. “The information that the accused avoided having was, in reality, within his reach via trustworthy and accessible sources.’’ Messi, who has held Spanish nationality since 2005, and his father had already paid five million euros to the tax authorities as a “corrective” measure after formal investigations were opened. 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. FC Barcelona, of which Messi is the leading goal scorer of all time in all competitions, said in a statement on its website following the ruling it was backing him. It said it considers the player to be free of criminal liability. “The Club … considers that the player, who has corrected his position with the Spanish tax office, is in no way criminally responsible with regards to the facts underlined in this case,’’ the club said. Messi, who has won eight La Liga titles, four King’s Cups and four Champions League crowns with Barcelona, said last month he was quitting international soccer. This was after the Argentine national side, of which he was captain, lost on penalty kicks to Chile in the Copa America tour

Portugal defeat Poland 5-3 on penalties to advance to Euro 2016 semi-final

Portugal defeated Poland 5-3 on penalties tonight after playing a 1-1 draw in normal time to advance to the semi-final of Euro 2016. Lewandowski first opened the scoring in the early stage of the first half with a crisp finish before 18 year old Renato Sanchez equalized for Portugal. 

Ronaldo had two good chances to win the game for his country but fluffed his lines resulting in a penalty shootout after extra-time. Ronaldo scored the first goal, Lewandowski scored his for Poland . The next four penalties were converted by both sides, before Blaszczykowski's missed from 12 yards leaving Quaresma to place the ball in the net and carry Portugal to the semi-final where they will meet either Wales or Belgium. 

Zanga Zangar Dalibai A Kwalejin FCE Ta Gombe

Wasu Yan Sanda Na Kula Da Masu Zanga Zanga

Rarraba

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A jihar Gombe hukumar gudanarwar kwalejin ilmi ta gwamnatin tarayya, ta rufe kwalejin har sai abin da hali yayi.

WASHINGTON, DC — 

Wannan hukunci da hukumar kwalejin ta dauka ya biyo bayan tarzoma da kuma tada kayar baya da daliban kwalejin suka gudanar a yau, sanadiyar rashin ruwa da wutar lantarki.

Rahotanni na bayanin cewa ‘daliban sun lalata gine gine da kuma motocin kwalejin, wanda hakan ya tilastawa jami’an tsaro yin amfani da bindiga da kuma barkonan tsohuwa.

Hukumar ‘yan sanda ta jihar Gombe dai ta samu labarin ‘daliban kwalejin tarayya, suna zanga zanga akan rashin ruwa wanda hakan yasa jami’an yan sanda sukayi gaggawa domin zuwa makarantar inda suka tarwatsasu, sai kafin isarsu ‘daliban sunyi barna sosai, inji DSP Ahmed Usman kakakin hukumar ‘yan sandan jihar Gombe.

NANS urges Buhari to probe N2.9bn Olympic fund Read more at: http://sulyben.blogspot.com /2016/05/nans-urges-buhari-probe-n2-9bn-olympic-fund/

By Jude Opara, Abuja As Nigerian athletes continue to complain over poor preparations ahead of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to probe how the N2.9 billion he released to the defunct National Sports Commission (NSC) for the preparations for the Games   was spent.



The government had last year released the said fund for the country’s participation for the All Africa Games, the Youth Olympics and the preparation for the Rio Olympics. But the Minister of Youth and Sports, Solomon Dalung had repeatedly claimed that the former Director General of the NSC, Mallam Alhassan Yakmut never briefed him concerning the money, an allegation which Yakmut has vehemently denied. In a statement issued in Abuja at the weekend and signed by the National Director, Sports, NANS, Comrade Godwin Erheriene, the body said the matter must not be swept under the carpet since the money in question ought to have made it easy for the athletes to prepare for the global fiesta. However, the body pleaded with the government to try and release another for the training of the athletes while it probes into what really happened to the N2.9 billion earlier released. According to the student body, it will be meaningless if Nigeria will send athletes to the games without adequately preparing them to give optimum performance. The statement further urged the government to put measure in place to ensure that the fund will not be misappropriated if eventually it decides to release the money which it added is for the good of Nigerian athletes preparing to defend the name of Nigeria in Brazil. “Lack of fund should not continue to be the excuse of sports men and women in our great country Nigeria which is also the giant of Africa. Nevertheless we urge the government to track every amount they want to approve for the training of our athletes to ensure that they get what is their due” the statement concluded.

Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/05/nans-urges-buhari-probe-n2-9bn-olympic-fund/

Buhari is Nigeria’s best President ever – APC Chieftain Read more at: http://sulyben.blogspot.com /2016/05/buhari-nigerias-best-president-ever-apc-chieftain/

A Chieftain of the All Progressives Congress(APC), in Delta State and National Organising Secretary for Grassroot Mobilisers for Buhari, High Chief Igho Osiebe, Wednesday, adjudged President Muhammadu Buhari, the best President in the history of Nigeria, saying Nigerians should be grateful to God who through the forces of change and accelerated development thrust up the Daura-born retired General and politician.

Chief Osiebe, who was stated this in Asaba, said President Buhari had displayed enough competence in administering the country especially his prudent management of resources in his drive to deliver quality service to the Nigerian people. The High Chief of Agbon Kingdom in Ethiopia East area of the oil-rich state, cited the recovery of looted funds starched away in foreign banks by politicians, who corruptly enriched themselves in the past by the President Buhari-led APC administration as a legacy that will live beyond the “no nonsense” retired General. According to him, as things stand at the moment, there is seeming sanity in the way politicians carry out their businesses in a clear departure from the immediate past government, ‎saying as time goes on, “we as a people shall celebrate a nation free of corruption.” He took a swipe on the Yakubu Wada-led faction of the Nigerian Labour Congress(NLC) for leading Nigerian workers on strike, noting that such action was self-serving, lack of patriotism to the government and the ‘good people’ of Nigeria. He wondered if Wada understands the basic economic principles of a free market economy as being introduced in the downstream sector of the petroleum industry as he called on the FG to avoid the “booby trap” of salary increase for workers noting that such was a catalyst for hyper inflation. Osiebe condemned the renewed hostilities pivoted by the self acclaimed Niger Delta Avengers, NDA, in the Delta region wondering what was there to avenge? According to him, NDA is an group that does not mean well for the region in its self-serving drive urging the federal government to deal decisively with any mischief maker where and when necessary. “In President Buhari we have Nigeria’s best President in our national history and it is of note that we as a people must be grateful to those forces of change and accelerated development who gave us this weird character. “We have seen with enthusiasm how much this generation of politicians dread him and how much he has been able to hound the looters of our national patrimony to surrender and I want to urge him on. “Ours is an action packed President who will fire anybody who deviates from the path of bringing glory to our nation like we saw in the sack of the immigration boss over alleged extortion of officials of the Nigerian Immigration Service, such action is alien to us in our clime. “I understand a group of masochists who goes by the name, Niger Delta Avengers, vowed to hold Nigeria ransom, I wonder what they are avenging, in whose interest and for what? We are peace loving people in the region therefore the president should go all out for any trouble maker when and wherever necessary,” he said. 

Read more at: http://sulyben.blogspot.com /2016/05/buhari-nigerias-best-president-ever-apc-chieftain/

I Hear Your Cries and Share Your Pains – Read What Buhari Said After Signing the Budget

Shortly after signing into law the 2016 National Budget, President Muhammadu Buhari, took a minute to appreciate Nigerians for their patience, toughness and resilience.
After several weeks of horse-trading between the presidency and the National Assembly over the controversial 2016 National Budget dubbed ‘Budget of Corruption’, President Muhammadu Buhari, today, 6th May 2016,signed the budget into law

Femi Adesina, the presidential special adviser on media and publicity took to his Twitter page to disclose the short statement made by President Buhari shortly after the official signing of the budget.

Read below;

“Living in the State House does not alienate me from your daily struggles. I hear your cries, I share your pains.

“I commend the sacrifice, resilience, toughness of all Nigerians, who have continued to have hope and confidence of a great future.

“This government is like no other. We are absolutely committed to changing the structure of the Nigerian economy once and for all.

“I can’t promise that it will be an easy journey, but can assure this govt you have freely elected will work with honesty & dedication.

I shall speak in more details about the overall economic and social policies of the govt in my address on May 29, God willing,” President Muhammadu Buhari.sulyben.blogspot.com