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Lady scams Ronaldo of £250k after trusting her with credit card pin
A travel agent has reportedly cheated Manchester United striker Cristiano Ronaldo out of nearly £250,000.
The 53-year-old, named in Portugal as Maria Silva, also scammed the football star’s super-agent Jorge Mendes out of more than £14,000 and former Man Utd winger Nani out of more than £1,500.
Her wrongdoing culminated in her getting a four-year suspended prison sentence at a court in Porto, respected Portuguese daily Jornal de Noticias reported on Sunday.
The newspaper revealed dad-of-four Cristiano, 36, was spared having to attend her trial after she made a full confession.
The four-times Ballon D’or winner gave a statement to police after flying to Porto by private jet and meeting up with his lawyer Carlos Osorio de Castro.
The previously-unreported scandal was laid bare by Jornal de Noticias in an expose about greedy Silva’s breach of the trust Cristiano placed in her by giving her his credit card details and pin codes.The newspaper said the €288,000 she scammed him out of – £245,770 – corresponded to around 200 trips he never made between Portugal and other European countries as well as Europe and Africa and the US.
She reportedly carried out the fraud by getting clients to transfer cash for travel she arranged for them to her personal account instead of the business account of the travel agency she worked for.
She then billed those trips to the accounts of victims like Cristiano Ronaldo, who had given her a ‘virtual’ credit card and pin code, to “fill the hole” in her company’s accounts, the report in Jornal de Noticias said.
The newspaper reported she used the same tactic to rip off the likes of Jorge Mendes, his sports agency Gestifute, Nani and former Portsmouth and Everton footballer Manuel Fernandes.
The fraud cost Fernandes £2,440 and Gestifute £36,000. Silva’s firm Geostar is said to have repaid the fraud victims the money wrongly taken from them and she agreed to pay back monthly compensation to her old employers to avoid going to prison.
Cristiano was targeted between in a three-year period between February 2007 and July 2010 when he was playing for Manchester United first-time round and then Real Madrid following his record £80 million transfer to Spain.
The Portuguese footballer gave the Policia Judiciaria in Porto a statement on June 7 2011 according to Jornal de Noticias.
He is said to have entered the police station via a back door so his presence would go unnoticed.
Portugal forward Cristiano Ronaldo crossed one billion followers across his social media accounts, aided by his newly-launched YouTube channel that has attracted more than 60 million subscribers in just over three weeks.
Ronaldo, who scored his 900th career goal last week to help Portugal beat Croatia 2-1 in the Nations League, is the first human being to reach a billion followers on social media, global media reports said.
“We’ve made history, one billion followers! This is more than just a number, it’s a testament to our shared passion, drive, and love for the game and beyond,” Ronaldo posted on X.
“You’ve been with me every step of the way, through all the highs and the lows. This journey is our journey… thank you for believing in me, for your support, and for being part of my life.”
The former Manchester United and Real Madrid player reached the milestone with over 639 million followers on Instagram, 170 million on Facebook and 113 million on X.
The 39-year-old topped Forbes’ list of highest-paid athletes this year, with off-field earnings of $60 million, boosted by his large social media following.
Ronaldo’s club Al-Nassr will host Al-Ahli in the Saudi Pro League on Friday.
-Reuters
Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo launched his YouTube channel on Wednesday and hundreds of thousands of subscribers signed up within a couple of hours.
The 39-year-old five-times Ballon D’Or winner plays for Saudi Arabian club Al Nassr.
“The wait is over. My @YouTube channel is finally here! SIUUUbscribe and join me on this new journey,” Ronaldo posted on his social media accounts.
A couple of hours after posting his first video, 1.69M subscribers had joined he channel.
Ronaldo has 112.5 million followers on the X platform, 170 million on Facebook and 636 million on Instagram.
The former Real Madrid and Manchester United player is preparing for his team’s Saudi Pro League opener against Al-Raed on Thursday.
-Reuters
Inter Miami will be the last club Argentina captain Lionel Messi plays for, the 36-year-old forward said on Wednesday, adding he feels “a little bit scared” at the thought of the day he decides to retire.
Messi, a World Cup winner with Argentina in 2022, has a contract with the Major League Soccer side until 2025 following his arrival last summer after a spell with French champions Paris St Germain.
“Inter Miami will be my last club. I love playing football. I enjoy everything even more because I am aware that there is less and less left,” Messi told ESPN.
“I’m not ready to leave football. I’ve done this all my life, I love playing football, I enjoy training, the day-to-day, the matches… And yes, there’s always a little bit of fear that it’s all over.”
The eight-time Ballon d’Or winner Messi is preparing with his national team to defend their Copa America title, with the tournament kicking off on June 20 in the United States.
Argentina will take on Canada in the opening match before facing Group A rivals Chile on June 25 and Peru four days later.
-Reuters
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