Mourinho and Ronaldo could face probe on tax fraud claims

Mourinho and Ronaldo could face probe on tax fraud claims

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Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho and Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo could face the heat with a UK MP calling for a probe into claims of tax evasion which have emerged in a data leak. Earlier, Gestifute, the Ronaldo and Mourinho’s agency, have denied these allegations profusely.

The data leak was being investigated for the past several months by a group of pan-European media organisations, amid claims of Jose Mourinho and Cristiano Ronaldo being involved tax evasion. The allegation brought against Mourinho claims that the United manager's advisers may have helped him move large sums of money to Switzerland and the British Virgin Islands to avoid paying tax. Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo has also been accused of having allegedly moved money to a "tax haven".

Gestitute, the Portuguese football agency who handle both Mourinho and Ronaldo, have dismissed these claims in a statement.

"Both Cristiano Ronaldo and Jose Mourinho are fully compliant with their tax obligations with the Spanish and British tax authorities.

"Neither Cristiano Ronaldo nor Jose Mourinho have ever been involved in legal proceedings regarding the commission of a tax offence.

"Any insinuation or accusation made to Cristiano Ronaldo or Jose Mourinho over the commission of a tax offence will be reported to the legal authorities and prosecuted," Gestitute’s official statement had said.

However, MP Meg Hillier, the Chairman of the Commons public accounts committee, has urged the authorities to launch an investigation to check the validity of these claims. She said, "These revelations are extraordinary and warrant a close examination by the UK tax authorities.”

An HMRC spokesman said: "HMRC carefully scrutinises the arrangements between football clubs and their employees in respect of any image right payments to make sure the right tax is paid - in recent years we have identified more than £80m in additional tax payable from clubs, players and agents.

"We take seriously allegations that customers or their agents may have acted dishonestly in the course of an inquiry, and can reopen closed cases if we suspect this has happened."

The European Investigative Collaborations (EIC) consortium, who are handling the investigation into the leaked documents, have promised to reveal more such information in the coming weeks which will provide "an unprecedented look into the gloomy depths of the modern football industry".

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