Spanish authorities accuse Cristiano Ronaldo of tax evasion

Cristiano Ronaldo became the latest soccer figure to be accused of tax evasion after the Spanish tax agency alleged that the Real Madrid star defrauded authorities of almost $17 million from 2011 to 2014.

Spanish prosecutors must decide by the end of June whether or not to charge Cristiano Ronaldo with tax evasion, according to Adriana Garcia of ESPN FC.

Ronaldo paid $6.27 million in 2014 to fix his tax situation. However, the tax office believes that he needed to pay upwards of $16.5 million.

The tax office asked for a minimum five-year jail sentence for Ronaldo, per Garcia. Prosecutors say that if Real Madrid’s captain is charged and found guilty, he would spend a minimum 15 months in jail.

Garcia figures that with this level of sentence “it would be unlikely Ronaldo would go to jail as a first-time offender.”

Meanwhile, Ronaldo’s agents Gestifute strongly denied the claims, according to Dermot Corrigan of ESPN FC. They said that Ronaldo was “fully compliant with his tax obligations with the Spanish and British tax authorities.”

Both Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho and Lionel Messi have been accused of similar fraud recently. On Wednesday, the Spanish Supreme Court upheld a 21-month sentence for his conviction of tax evasion in 2016. Additionally, it was revealed that Mourinho avoided paying taxes  by moving money to the British Virgin Islands. On the other hand, Messi’s money was routed through Belize, the UK, Uruguay and Switzerland, per Corrigan.

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Leaked documents claim both Mourinho and Ronaldo used the same system of tax fraud, according to BBC News. This allowed many soccer players and managers to avoid tax on earnings from image rights.

Through 38 matches, Real Madrid leads FC Barcelona by just three points in La Liga. This news comes in the same month that Ronaldo became the all-time leading scorer in Europe’s top five leagues.