Real Madrid star, Cristiano Ronaldo, has denied ever
committing any tax fraud in Spain.
He stressed that he never hid any of his earnings from tax
authorities.
The Portuguese international stated this on Tuesday through
his representatives, hours after a tax fraud lawsuit was filed against him in
Madrid.
“There is no tax evasion scam. There has never been any
hiding nor any intention to hide anything from tax authorities,” Gestifute, the
agency representing Ronaldo, said in a statement.
Spain’s prosecutor’s office in Madrid had said earlier that
it had filed a lawsuit against the 32-year-old for allegedly defrauding Spanish
authorities of 14.7 million euros between 2011 and 2014.
In a statement, the prosecutor’s office said Ronaldo had
knowingly used a “business structure” created in 2010 to hide his income in
Spain from his image rights.
It said the lawsuit was based on a report sent to the
prosecutor’s office from Spain’s tax agency, AEAT.
By Chijioke Jannah
