Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho settles Spanish tax fraud case

LONDON: Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has agreed to pay the fee, demanded by Spanish authorities in order to settle his tax case, which is dated back to his time in charge at Real Madrid.

The 54-year-old was accused by a Spanish regional prosecutor of defrauding tax authorities of 3.3 million euros, relating to image rights in the calendar years 2011 and 2012, when he was a manager of Madrid.

Mourinho was accused of using offshore companies in Ireland,  New Zealand and the British Virgin Islands to conceal his earnings.

Speaking after leaving the court in Pozuelo de Alcarcon to answer charges of tax fraud, Mourinho said that "the case is closed" and that he only attended the hearing to settle the matter.

 “I didn’t reply, I didn’t argue, I paid, I signed the papers,” the Guardian quoted Mourinho, as saying.

The Portuguese manager further revealed that he had left Spain four years ago with the information and conviction that his tax situation was perfectly legal, but a couple of years later he was told to pay more cash following a tax probe.

“I left Spain in 2013 with the information and the conviction that my tax situation was perfectly legal. A couple of years later I was informed that an investigation had been opened. They told me that to regularise my situation I had to pay X amount,” Mourinho said.

“I didn’t answer, I didn’t argue, I paid, I signed the papers with the state that show my conformity and that everything is definitively closed. That’s why I was here for five minutes to tell the judge exactly what I am telling you now,” he concluded.