Real Madrid’s Portuguese football star Cristiano Ronaldo is due to appear in a Spanish court later today to answer to charges of tax fraud.
Spanish prosecutors allege that Ronaldo, reported to be the world’s highest paid athlete, has evaded up to $17.3m in taxes since 2010.
The 32-year-old has however in the past denied the allegations, saying his “conscience is clear.”
Ronaldo is the latest player in a string of athletes to be accused of tax fraud in Spain.
Others who have been in court for similar charges include Brazil’s Neymar Jr and Argentine’s Javier Mascherano and Lionel Messi.
Messi was handed a 21-month prison sentence after being found guilty tax evasion last year.
Earlier this month, the court ruled he could pay €252,000 in place of jail time.
The Barcelona star was however only accused of evading €4.1m in tax, €10.6m less than Ronaldo, who will give evidence in his case at a court in the Madrid suburb of Pozuelo de Alarcon on Monday.
According to the Spanish prosecutors, Ronaldo took “advantage of a company structure created in 2010 to hide income generated in Spain from his image rights from tax authorities” which was a “voluntary and conscious breach of his fiscal obligations in Spain”.
Ronaldo’s management have also denied the allegations.
But if the case is sent to trial and he is found guilty, the Portuguese forward could face a fine of “at least €28m” and a prison sentence of three-and-a-half years, the Gestha union of experts at Spain’s Inland Revenue says.
