Cristiano Ronaldo in court accused of evading millions of euros in taxes
The accusation does not involve Ronaldo's salary from Real Madrid, but he is accused of hiding income made from image rights.
Monday 31 July 2017 14:11, UK
Cristiano Ronaldo has appeared in court near Madrid accused of evading 鈧�14.7m (拢13.1m) in taxes.
The Real Madrid player spent more than 90 minutes answering questions from judge Monica Gomez.
The judge took Ronaldo's evidence as part of an investigation to determine if there are grounds to charge him.
The 32-year-old Portugal forward entered court from the rear to avoid crowds of journalists gathered outside.
In June, a state prosecutor accused Ronaldo of four charges of tax fraud from 2011 to 2014.
He is accused of only declaring €11.5m (£10.2m) during that period, but the prosecutor says his real income was €43m (£38.4m).
The prosecutor's accusation does not involve Ronaldo's salary from Real Madrid, but the footballer is accused of hiding income made from image rights.
It is alleged that Ronaldo used what the prosecutor deemed a shell company in the Virgin Islands to "create a screen in order to hide his total income from Spain's Tax Office".
The prosecutor also said Ronaldo failed to declare €28.4m (£25.4m) of income made from the cession of image rights from 2015-20 to another company in Spain.
Ronaldo falsely claimed the income as coming from property, which "greatly" reduced his tax rate, the prosecutor said.
Ronaldo's representatives said he was up to date on his taxes and that he had maintained the same financial planning in Spain that he had while playing for Manchester United before joining Madrid in 2009.
In Spain, a judge can suspend sentences of less than two years for first-time offenders.
Ronaldo has denied any wrongdoing.