Keyword: Real Madrid

How football superstar Ronaldo placed trust in Jersey

Apr 22, 2018 By Yann Philippin, Rafael Buschmann, Michael Wulzinger and Nicola Naber (Der Spiegel)

Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo scoring a decisive goal on April 11th that sent his club into the semi-finals of the European Chamions League. © Reuters

Portuguese football star Cristiano Ronaldo, currently under investigation in Spain, where he resides, over his alleged wilful evasion of 14.7 million euros in tax payments between 2011 and 2014, created a trust in Jersey in 2015 from which millions of euros were transferred to a subsidiary in Luxembourg and which did not appear in his 2015 tax declaration, according to confidential documents analysed by Mediapart and its partners in the journalistic consortium European Investigative Collaborations (EIC). The trust was abruptly wound down last week, just 24 hours after the EIC contacted the footballer and his agent for comment on the documents.

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The Panama connection in Cristiano Ronaldo's tax affairs

Jun 22, 2017 By Michaël Hajdenberg and Yann Philippin

Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo denies trying to evade taxes. © Reuters

Footballer Cristiano Ronaldo is threatening to leave Spain if its justice system proves too troublesome for him over his tax affairs. The Real Madrid star, who faces an investigation into alleged tax evasion, insists that he has acted in good faith and says that all his fiscal arrangements were authorised. To back this claim, he and his advisors point to the fact that the authorities in England had no problem with his fiscal set-up when he played for Manchester United. But according to new documents from the whistle-blowing platform Football Leaks, and revealed here by Mediapart, there are now question marks over this line of defence. Michaël Hajdenberg and Yann Philippin report.

When Ronaldo's goal was to escape taxes

Dec 4, 2016 By Michael Hajdenberg, Michel Henry, Yann Philippin

Beginning in 2008, Portuguese football star Cristiano Ronaldo channelled just under 150 million euros earned from commercial deals into the Caribbean tax haven of the British Virgin Islands and in Switzerland, according to documents from the whistle-blowing platform Football Leaks and revealed by Mediapart and its media partners in the European Investigative Collaborations consortium. After first avoiding the scrutiny of the Spanish tax authorities, the Real Madrid player wound down the offshore company involved in the scheme, escaping a potential tax payment of 31 million euros. Michael Hajdenberg, Michel Henry and Yann Philippin report.