Cristiano Ronaldo to appear in court on tax charges
Footballer Cristiano Ronaldo is due to appear in a Spanish court later today, accused of evading millions in tax.
Prosecutors
allege Ronaldo, reported to be the world's highest paid athlete, has
evaded €14.7m ($17.3m; £13.1m) in tax since 2010.
The Real Madrid star has previously denied the allegation, saying his "conscience is clear".
Ronaldo, 32, is the latest in a string of footballers to be pursued by the Spanish tax authorities
Argentina's Lionel Messi, who plays for Barcelona, was handed a
21-month prison sentence after being found guilty of the same charge
last year.
Earlier this month, the court ruled he could pay €252,000 in place of jail time.
However,
Messi was 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 prosecutors,
Ronaldo allegedly 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.
BBC
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