Cristiano Ronaldo charged with defrauding Spanish authorities of 14.7 million Euros

Spain's prosecutor's office in Madrid has filed a tax fraud lawsuit against Real Madrid star striker Cristiano Ronaldo of allegedly defrauding Spanish tax authorities of 14.7million Euros.

As per mirror.co.uk, the prosecutor's office, in a statement, said Ronaldo had knowingly used a "business structure" created in 2010 to hide his income in Spain from his image rights.

As per reports, the alleged irregularities were in relation to money the Portuguese star had in the Virgin Islands, although officials acknowledged adjustments to this structure in 2014, where the player paid back an extra 7 million Euros in tax.

Last summer, Barcelona legend Lionel Messi also faced similar charges for which he and his father convicted.

Messi and his father Jorge Horacio Messi were handed the jail term last July after they were charged with three counts of tax fraud, which amounted to 4.1 million Euros.

Besides the prison sentence, the court had also ordered the Barcelona talisman and his father to pay a fine of around 2 million Euros and 1.5 million Euros respectively.

-ANI