Cristiano Ronaldo faces rape allegation; fined over $21 million for tax fraud

Jake Anderson, Reporter

Cristiano Ronaldo is one of the most well-known footballers on the planet.

Just look at his Instagram.

He has over 152 million followers, the most of any profile on the Facebook owned app.

Ronaldo’s image has taken a hit in recent months.

In September of 2018, he received rape allegations from an incident in Las Vegas from June 2009.

On Tuesday, the soon to be 34-year-old pleaded guilty to tax fraud in Spain.

After nearly a four-year investigation and a guilty plea deal made last year with Spain’s state prosecutor and tax authorities, Ronaldo was given over a $21 million fine and a two-year suspended sentence.

The investigation reportedly began in 2015 and two years later, a state prosecutor accused Ronaldo of four counts of tax fraud for having used shell companies outside of Spain to hide income made from image rights.

The accusations did not involve his salary from Real Madrid, whom he played for from 2009-2018 before being bought by Italian giants Juventus for over a whopping $100 million.

In 2017, Ronaldo told a judge he never tried to avoid paying taxes.

However, the Portuguese man will not have to serve time in prison because judges in Spain can suspend sentences for two years or less for first-time offenders.

“It’s done,” he said to journalists outside the court house.

Ironically, even Lionel Messi was found guilty of tax evasion for income made from image rights three years ago.

The fine was over $4 million and his father actually served time in prison, whom was also found guilty of tax fraud.

Ronaldo is also facing a rape allegation here in the U.S.

Kathryn Mayorga filed a lawsuit in September 2018 claiming he raped her in his Las Vegas hotel room in 2009.

Police reopened the investigation at her request, but the Juventus star has denied any wrongdoing.