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

Cristiano Ronaldo has told a Spanish judge that he has "never tried to avoid taxes."

The Real Madrid player, who is from Portugal, was questioned yesterday to determine whether he committed tax fraud. Ronaldo spent more than 90 minutes answering the questions of investigating judge Monica Gomez.

According to a statement released by his public relations firm, Ronaldo told the judge: “I have never hidden anything, nor had the intention to avoid taxes.”

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

In June, a state prosecutor accused Ronaldo of four counts of tax fraud from 2011-14 worth €14.7 million. 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 has denied any wrongdoing.

The prosecutor alleged that Ronaldo used what the prosecutor deemed a shell company in the Virgin Islands to “create a screen in order to hide his total income from Spain’s Tax Office.”

The prosecutor accused Ronaldo of declaring €11.5 million earned from 2011-14 in a tax return filed in 2014, when the prosecutor said Ronaldo’s real income during that period was almost €43 million. It added that Ronaldo falsely claimed the income as coming from real estate, which “greatly” reduced his tax rate.

The prosecutor also said that Ronaldo did not declare income of €28.4 million made from the cession of image rights from 2015-20 to another company located in Spain.

Ronaldo’s agency, Gestifute, said he was up to date on his taxes and that he had maintained the same financial planning in Spain that he had while playing for Manchester United before joining Madrid in 2009.

Last month, Spain’s state prosecutor also accused former Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho of defrauding 3.3 million euros ($3.7 million) in 2011 and 2012 from income made from image rights. Mourinho, now coach of Manchester United, has yet to be summoned for questioning and through his agent has denied any wrongdoing.

The probes into Ronaldo and Mourinho’s financial arrangements are the most recent high-profile tax cases involving soccer’s top names in Spain.

Last year, Barcelona forward Lionel Messi and his father, Jorge Horacio Messi, were found guilty on three counts of defrauding tax authorities of 4.1 million euros ($4.6 million) from income made from image rights. They have both paid additional fines in exchange for their 21-month jail sentences to be suspended.

Both former Real Madrid forward Angel Di Maria and Barcelona defender Javier Mascherano have admitted to tax fraud in exchange for lighter treatment from the law, and prosecutors have also opened tax fraud investigations into former Atletico Madrid striker Radamel Falcao and former Real Madrid defender Fabio Coentrao.

In Spain, a judge can suspend sentences of less than two years for firsttime offenders.