Cristiano Ronaldo Scammed Out Of Six-Figure Sum After Trusting Travel Agent With Credit Card Pin

Posted Tuesday, September 21, 2021 by sportbible

Cristiano Ronaldo was scammed out of £250,000 by a travel agent after trusting her with his credit cards.

Reports in Portugal per The Sun have identified Maria Silva as the culprit and she's also scammed the five-time Ballon d'Or winner's agent, Jorge Mendes and his sports agency Gestifute.

Portuguese outlet Jornal de Noticias claim Silva was handed a suspended four-year jail sentence for her scheme after being convicted back in 2017.

Ronaldo placed his trust in the 53-year-old and let her have access to his financial information.

The newspaper said the €288,000 [£250,000] she scammed Ronaldo out of linked to a number of trips he never made between February 2007 and July 2010.

200 trips from Portugal and other European countries are included including flights to Africa and the United States.

Silva is said to have orchestrated it by having clients transfer money into her personal account rather than the travel agent's business one.

She would then 'plug the holes' in the company accounts with money from the likes of Ronaldo, who handed over a 'virtual credit card'.

Ronaldo gave a statement to police but was not present at the trial.

On Sunday, Ronaldo helped United to a 2-1 win over West Ham United at the London Stadium.

Said Benrahma's effort deflected in off Raphael Varane to give David Moyes' side a shock lead inside half an hour.

Ronaldo netted an equaliser five minutes later after Lukasz Marek Fabianski spilled his initial effort.

That'd be it for goalmouth action until the 89th minute when Jesse Lingard, who spent the second half of last season on loan at West Ham, fired in a winner.

More drama followed after Luke Shaw gave away a penalty in the dying moments with a handball in the area.

West Ham brought on Mark Noble to take the spot-kick and it was remarkably saved by David de Gea, his first penalty stop in five years.

Ronaldo posted a message to Instagram at full-time which read: "Every game in the Premier League is always an amazing fight for the three points.

"Today we got to see a glimpse of all the obstacles that we will find on our way, but we have to keep our mind set on our goals. Together! Strong! Focused! Let's go, Devils!"