Cristiano Ronaldo tells judge he ‘never tried to avoid taxes’

Footballer Cristiano Ronaldo has told a Spanish judge that he has “never tried to avoid taxes”.

The Real Madrid forward was questioned to determine whether he committed tax fraud worth £13 million.

Portuguese star Ronaldo spent more than 90 minutes answering the questions of investigating judge Monica Gomez.

According to his public relations firm, the 32-yearold told the judge: “I have never hidden anything, and never tried to avoid taxes.”

Judge Gomez took Ronaldo’s evidence as part of an investigation to determine if there are grounds to charge him.

The session at Pozuelo de Alarcon Court No 1 on the outskirts of Madrid was closed to the public because it is part of an ongoing investigation. 0 Cristiano Ronaldo denied defrauding Spanish tax office

In June, a state prosecutor accused Ronaldo of four counts of tax fraud from 201114 worth £13.1m.

The prosecutor accused the Portugal forward of having used shell companies outside Spain to hide income made from image rights.

The accusation does not involve his salary from Real Madrid.

Ronaldo denies any wrongdoing.

“Spain’s tax office knows all the details about my sources of income because we have reported them,” Ronaldo told the judge.

“I always file my tax returns because I think that we should all file and pay our taxes “Those who know me know that I tell my consultants that they must have everything in order and paid up to date because I don’t want trouble.”

Both before and after his court appearance, Ronaldo used an alternative entrance to avoid a large swarm of journalists gathered outside the building.

The prosecutor said in June that Ronaldo used what was deemed a shell company in the Virgin Islands to “create a screen in order to hide his total income from Spain’s tax office”.

Last month, Spain’s state prosecutor also accused former Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho – now the Manchester United manager – of defrauding £2.9m in 2011 and 2012 from income made from image rights.

Mourinho has denied any wrongdoing.

Last year, Barcelona forward Lionel Messi and his father were found guilty of defrauding tax authorities of £3.6m.