Considered to be one of the best footballers in history, Cristiano Ronaldo who recently lifted the UEFA Champions League trophy with his team, Real Madrid FC, has been accused of tax evasion.
The accusation comes after Barcelona player and rival, Lionel Messi’s tax evasion case was decided in court a few weeks ago.
The prosecutor’s office in Madrid revealed that a lawsuit has been filed against the Portuguese star in a tax evasion scandal estimated to be as much as 14.7m euros (£13m; $16m) between 2011 to 2014.
The recent suit comes after Ronaldo, being the world’s highest-paid sports star claimed he has nothing to hide and is not worried about tax investigations.
However, the suit pressed against him accused him of knowingly using a “business structure” to hide income made from his image rights coming after a leaked documents in December suggested that the star footballer had been avoiding tax on income allegedly held in offshore accounts.
Ronaldo who denied the allegation then told a journalist from Radio Television Portuguesa, RTP, “Quien no debe no teme,” translating to: “He who has nothing to hide has no fear.”
Ronaldo earned as much as $93m (£72m) from salary, bonuses and endorsements last year.