In 2007 the Italian legend of motorcycling, Valentino Rossi, he found himself involved in a tax evasion charge, dating back to the period of his life spent in London. The assessment by the Inland Revenue challenged him to not having declared a figure equal to 60 million of Euro. The State challenged him for creating a fictitious residence in England, while the center of Rossi’s social and family life revolved around the province of Pesaro; the pilot defended himself by showing airline tickets, photos and testimonies attesting to having lived at least part of his life in London. After months of negotiations with the Treasury, the pilot found an agreement for return 35 million, undertaking to return the residence – and to pay the consequent taxes – in Italy. The 42-year-old from Tavullia returned to the issue during an interview granted to the channel YouTube by Graham Bensinger, telling his truth on the matter.
“The media pushed a lot on me. I found myself in a bad situation because I made mistakes, I knew this could have been happening in a year or two, and I wanted to try to fix it all. I insisted a lot on settling the matter, because I wanted to go back to Italy. I lived in London – a great place – but I didn’t feel well, it wasn’t my home. I tried to go home, but I was stuck in a situation where I was screwed. I had my old manager and the people who worked with me who had put me in some kind of cobweb and I couldn’t move. I paid and was able to return. For me from that moment a new life began. I arrived in front of my house and saw a crowd of reporters, but I didn’t know anything. I walked past wondering what had happened and just then the notification came. I suffered a lot that the press had destroyed me, even with things that weren’t true, like the 163 million, a figure that I don’t even have. Then, step by step, I tried to fix everything. In the end I felt much better, also because I cut clean with my previous organization that had put me in this problem. I have learned that when you work, friendship is one thing, and work is another. I had to explain to these guys that it was over, that what happened was not okay and that I had to change and that made me stronger. It’s not easy, but when you get through difficult times, if you survive, you get stronger. After all this I learned to follow my instincts and most of the time it was the right choice. “
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