Cristiano Ronaldo to Testify in Tax Fraud Case on 31 July

File photo of Cristiano Ronaldo. (Photo: AP)

Soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo will testify on July 31 in a case in which he is accused of hiding income from the tax authorities, court officials said on Tuesday.

The Spanish prosecutor said the Real Madrid forward knowingly used a business structure to hide his image rights income in Spain between 2011 and 2014. Ronaldo has denied the charges.

The Real Madrid striker Cristiano Ronaldo was accused of a 14.7 million euro tax evasion through offshore companies on 13 June.

The Portuguese footballer was accused of "four crimes against the public treasury between 2011-14, which involves tax fraud of 14,768,897 euros ($16.5m, £12.9m)", the office said in a statement.

The accused took advantage of a company structure created in 2010 to hide income generated in Spain from his image rights from tax authorities, which is a ‘voluntary’ and ‘conscious’ breach of his fiscal obligations in Spain.

The Public Prosecutor’s office’s Statement on 13 June

Prosecutors accused the 32-year-old Portugal forward, who is the world's highest paid athlete according to Forbes magazine, of evading tax via two companies based in the British Virgin Islands and Ireland.

(With inputs from Reuters)