Real Madrid defender Fabio Coentrao has paid €1.7 million in back-taxes and charges after appearing in court charged with alleged tax fraud.
Coentrao, 29, ran into trouble with Spain's "Hacienda" tax authority, who pressed charges after it was reported that he had not filed a return for the years 2011 through to 2014, and had been making use of a network of overseas companies to avoid paying €1,291,398 in taxes due on image rights income.
The Portugal international attended the court of judge Monica Gomez Ferrer on Monday morning in Madrid and deposited the €1.7m which will reconcile his tax situation.
Gomez Ferrer is also overseeing the case which sees Cristiano Ronaldo due in the same court on July 31 to answer charges of an alleged €14.7m tax fraud.
On June 27, Coentrao's agent Jorge Mendes also gave evidence in front of Gomez Ferrer in a case relating to an alleged €5.6m tax fraud involving Monaco striker Radamel Falcao. During that appearance Mendes told the court that he and Gestifute staff had no involvement whatsoever in tax issues, but solely concerned themselves with contract negotiations and sponsorship agreements.
A group of European media outlets reported in December 2016 that Ronaldo and other Gestifute represented stars had used complicated accounting structures which saw their image rights income routed away from Spain's tax system through a network of companies in Ireland, the British Virgin Islands, Panama and Switzerland.
All the players involved have publicly stated that they never deliberately misled the authorities. Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho claimed his tax affairs are all currently up to date, while a source told ESPN FC that Ronaldo wants to quit the club and leave Spain this summer after being accused of tax evasion.
Paris Saint-Germain winger Angel Di Maria recently accepted a one-year prison sentence and will pay a total of €2m in back-taxes and fines in a deal similar to that which saw his Argentina teammate Lionel Messi accept wrongdoing in summer 2016.
Coentrao, who joined Madrid from Benfica for around €30m in 2011, will reportedly leave to join Sporting Lisbon on loan for the 2017-18 season having fallen out of favour under Zinedine Zidane.