Ronaldo: 'I never hid anything nor did I intend to evade taxes'
Cristiano Ronaldo continues to deny allegations of tax evasion.
On Monday, Ronaldo reportedly spent 90 minutes in court and was questioned by Monica Ferrer Gomez, a judge, over allegations of defrauding the Agencia Tributaria of €14.7 million between 2011 and 2014. According to the Guardian's Stephen Burgen, the Portuguese superstar hid from 200 journalists who were waiting outside the court in Pozuelo de Alcaron after promising that he would make a statement. The media was apparently waiting for two hours in the heat.
But Ronaldo did ultimately make a statement, doing so through Gestifute, the company that manages his career and that's led by his agent, Jorge Mendes.
During the hearing, Ronaldo assured Gomez that he never hid income from his tax returns, saying: "The Ministerio de Hacienda y Funcion Publica know all my incomes in detail, because they've always been delivered to them; I never hid anything nor did I intend to evade taxes. I've always done 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 this is what I ask my advisors: that they have everything up to date and properly paid, because I don't want to have problems."
The journalists outside the court in the municipality of Madrid were presented with Inaki Torres, Ronaldo's media representative, instead of Ronaldo himself. "He didn't change his mind," Torres declared. "This was always an alternative." Per the footballer's lawyers, their client "didn't break any laws, all he did was follow criteria that the tax inspectors don't like."
Ronaldo also expressed his belief that he was only in court because of his reputation, stating, according to Marca: "If my name was not Cristiano Ronaldo I would not be here."
La Fiscalia Provincial de Madrid accused Ronaldo of knowingly using a business structure that was created in 2010 to hide income generated from image rights. He allegedly defrauded Spain's tax agency of €1.4 million in 2011, €1.7 million in 2012, €3.2 million in 2013, and €8.5 million in 2014.