The Portuguese multi-millionaire footballer, Cristiano Ronaldo, said today after his tax hearing in Spain, that he never concealed his income and had "no intention of evading taxes."
In a statement read out to the press by his lawyers, Ronaldo commented that the tax authorities have details of all of his income because he has never hidden his earnings.
"I always do my tax returns on a voluntary basis, because I think we all have to declare and pay taxes according to our income. Those who know me, know that I ask my advisers to keep everything up to date and correctly paid, because I do not want any problems," said the Real Madrid player.
The footballer said that he wants justice to take its course and that he expects "a fair decision," saying that he will not make statements until the matter is decided.
The lawyers representing him, José María Alonso and Jesús Santos, were happy with the footballer’s performance in front of the judge.
The lawyers say that Cristiano was calm at all times, that he has a clear conscience and always has fulfilled his tax obligations.
Ronaldo assured Judge Monica Gomez that he never had "any intention of evading taxes", adding that he never had tax problems in the other countries where he has lived.
The Portuguese clarified also that the transfer of his image rights to a company he owned was done in 2004, well before he moved to Spain in 2010.
"When I signed for Real Madrid, I did not create a special structure to manage my image rights, having maintained the one that created in England. It was a customary structure in England, authorized by the Treasury and ratified as legal and legitimate," added Ronaldo.
The player spoke for an hour and a half in a closed session, answering questions in Spanish. He is suspected of defrauding the Spanish tax authorities of €14.7 million between 2011 and 2014.
The court now must decide whether to continue the investigation and collect more evidence, proceed to the judgment stage or shut the case due to a lack of evidence.
Cristiano Ronaldo is accused of having "consciously" created companies in Ireland and the British Virgin Islands to defraud the Spanish treasury of €14,768,897, committing four offenses against the Spanish state treasury between 2011 and 2014.
Football manager José Mourinho and footballer Fábio Coentrão also are being investigated, as well as the Portuguese agent Jorge Mendes, who in late June responded to the judge in the same court in Pozuelo de Alarcón, near Madrid.
See also: 'Cristiano Ronaldo faces jail for Spanish tax fraud' 13 June, 2017
Comments
Image Rights 'tax vehicles' are not exempt from making full tax declarations. So will the UK HMRC now get in the line to investigate him too? Is there a UK statute of limitations on tax evasion?