Report: Ronaldo defrauded Spain's tax agency of €8M

The taxman is reportedly knocking on Cristiano Ronaldo's door.

The Agencia Tributaria concluded its investigation of Ronaldo and considers it proven that the Portuguese footballer defrauded Spain's tax agency of €8 million between 2011 and 2014, reports Cadena SER's Miguel Angel Campos. Details of the investigation were apparently sent to the Fiscalia de Delitos Economicos in Madrid, which will decide whether to act against the player.

But there are allegedly doubts among the Agencia Tributaria's inspectors over whether Ronaldo should be prosecuted, as some believe the discrepancy can be resolved by administrative means, without going to Spain's criminal court.

Ronaldo reportedly held the money in the tax haven that is the Virgin Islands but, following the first accusations of tax fraud against footballers in Spain, regularised all his capital abroad and imputed it to the fiscal year of 2014. He apparently did so before the investigation was even opened.

Cadena SER's report was published only one day after the Tribunal Supremo, Spain's supreme court, upheld Lionel Messi's 21-month prison sentence in his appeal over three counts of tax fraud. In Spain, prison sentences of two years or less are usually suspended for first-time offenders.