Spain: Christiano Ronaldo could risk prison sentence for tax fraud

Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo may be rivals, but it appears now they might have the same opponent — the Spanish government.

A day after Spain’s Supreme Court upheld Messi’s 21-month prison sentence for tax fraud, news broke that Ronaldo may be facing similar charges, according to Spanish reports that say the Real Madrid superstar is suspected of defrauding the government of roughly $16.8 million.

“These … crimes entail prison sentences of two to six years for each of them,” officials from Spain’s Finance Ministry said in a statement (via AS.com). Ministry officials added that they would request that the state attorney seek a minimum sentence for Ronaldo of five years.

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