Press reports revealed that the Portuguese superstar and Manchester United forward Cristiano Ronaldo has been involved in a financial fraud operation within his former club, Juventus. Juventus is under investigation for false accounting and false market communications. The Juve is suspected of falsifying its budgets for 2019, 2020, and 2021, and 16 of its managers and chiefs, including President Andrea Agnelli and Vice President Pavel Nedved, are currently under investigation. According to La Gazzetta Dello Sport, investigators have found a ‘secret document’ signed by Juventus and Cristiano Ronaldo where the club promised their ex-forward €20m despite announcing salary adjustments during the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic. Juventus are under investigation for false accounting and false communications to the market. The Serie A giants are suspected of having falsified their balance sheets for 2019, 2020 and 2021 and 16 of their directors and chiefs – including President Andrea Agnelli and vice president Pavel Nedved – are under investigation, as confirmed by the Turin prosecutor on Monday.
According to the report, Juventus promised Ronaldo to pay €20m even if he left the club. The Turin Prosecutor believes the payment agreed upon by the two parties was not regularly registered in Juventus’ financial statement.
The newspaper added that the public prosecutor in Turin confirmed that the amount agreed upon by the two parties was not regularly recorded in the financial statement of Juventus.
La Stampa, an Italian daily English newspaper published in Turin reported earlier that Ronaldo was asked to clarify his status, but he refused to speak to the public prosecutor in Turin.