Real Madrid Star, Cristiano Ronaldo, on Wednesday insisted he has a “clear conscience” after Spanish prosecutors accused him of evading €14.7 million in tax through offshore companies.
“Conscience clear, always,” Ronaldo told reporters at Lisbon airport as he and his Portuguese teammates prepared to fly out to the Confederations Cup in Russia.
Real Madrid earlier gave their backing to Ronaldo, releasing a statement saying it the Portuguese star have their full support.
According to the Gestha union of experts at Spain’s Inland Revenue, if Ronaldo is put on trial and found guilty, he risks “a fine of at least €28 million” ($31.3 million) and could potentially be jailed for three-and-a-half years.
Ronaldo is accused of “four crimes against the public treasury between 2011-14… which involves tax fraud of 14,768,897 euros”, Madrid’s public prosecutor’s office said on Tuesday.
“The accused took advantage of a company structure created in 2010 to hide income generated in Spain from his image rights from tax authorities, which is a ‘voluntary’ and ‘conscious’ breach of his fiscal obligations in Spain,” it said.
Prosecutors accuse the Portugal international of evading tax via a shell company based in the British Virgin Islands and another in Ireland, known for its low corporate tax rate.
In addition, they say he only declared €11.5 million of Spanish-related income from 2011 to 2014, while what he really earned during that time was close to €43 million.
