Cristiano Ronaldo is yet to fully respond to the questions posed by Turin prosecutors in the the money laundering case involving Juventus.
It has been previously reported that the investigators in the case involving Bianconeri have already found traces and proof of a secret document that Juventus had hidden to conceal Ronaldo’s full wages and financial package. Juve are said to have falsified the Portuguese’s wage packet, despite having privately agreed finances through a secret document.
La Repubblica have stated that on the 13th of April last year, the Turin prosecutor’s office had sent questions to Ronaldo regarding the case with the help of the UK Central Authority. Prosecutors Marco Gianoglio and Mario Bendoni wanted to get to the root of the issue and wanted to know if Juve had paid all of Ronaldo’s salaries, unpaid wages and potentially seek a copy of the documents that the Bianconeri may have sent to him, among others.
It is a document that some other players had signed and they have confessed to signing it and the prosecutors want to know if any deferred money was ever collected by Ronaldo. The Portuguese’s lawyers John Shehata and Salvatore Pinto have, thus far, issued only one response:
“He doesn’t have any documentation relating to relations with the Italian team in his hand. He has already told me that he knows nothing about the events under investigation.”
They further stated: “In the light of his residence abroad and the peculiarity of his profession, my client would prefer to respond in writing”
The Turin prosecutors said ‘no’ to this as they wanted to check if the player had some documents and they had used relations with UKCA to understand if they could help them. In August, Robert Mooney of the UK Central Authority replied to Bendoni:
“I have requested that Cheshire Police officers report to the witness’s address in an attempt to obtain the questioning/statement you have requested.”
The testimony has never taken place, with Mooney stating that the witness does not seem very ‘collaborative’. It is stated that the reason why Ronaldo hasn’t fully responded to specific questions is because if the document exists and has his signature, he will be at risk of suspension because of signing non-federal contracts. The prosecutors already know that the document does exist and they also know that they would only be destroyed by CR7 if the deferred payment is already paid.
As of now, it will be difficult for Ronaldo to ask for the deferred payment without risking sanctions.
Kaustubh Pandey | GIFN
