Khabib Nurmagomedov has been in troubled waters recently following the rumors of his involvement in a tax evasion scandal. It was believed that the former UFC lightweight champion owed $3.3 million in unpaid taxes to the Russian Federal Tax Service. Nurmagomedov announced his retirement from mixed martial arts in 2020 and since then has been involved in various businesses, including Eagle FC. As per the reports, the same businesses resulted in legal trouble for the 35-year-old, and his charity accounts were also said to be frozen by the Russian authorities.

However, there has been a development as Nurmagomedov’s team denied all the allegations levied on him regarding the tax evasion scandal.

Khabib Nurmagomedov’s team releases an official statement

In an Instagram post by Championship Rounds, the news has arrived that Nurmagomedov’s team denied all tax evasion allegations. The post was captioned, “The information about tax debt is inaccurate. Khabib continues to engage in business projects and develop them.” (via. TASS)”

The Instagram post also declared that his team issued an official statement where they called the information “inaccurate”. However, the retired fighter is still in the midst of an investigation because the agency is still running the case. After retirement the champion never looked back, he contributed to various charities and businesses.

However, according to several reports ‘The Eagle’ owes $3.3 million in tax to the Russian Federal Tax Service. He was apparently questioned by the agency as well regarding this and they found alleged paperwork irregularities from companies owned by him. Apparently, his accounts related to the companies have been frozen. Not only is this the latest update but Nurmagomedov has been previously involved in similar controversies as well. One of them was the crypto token scam which did not sit well with the fans.

Khabib Nurmagomedov’s previous controversy

He retired from MMA in 2020 due to his mother’s request and is one of the richest retired fighters from the industry. He is worth $40 million as of 2024 yet he came under flak for being involved in crypto and meta businesses which are apparently fraudulent.

He promoted an investing platform on his social media and wrote, “Wahed is now live in the UAE and we are offering a $20 bonus when you make a deposit so that you can begin building your wealth riba-free!” However the conpany was later charged 300,000 USD by the U.S. SEC for misleading promises.

His recent case is also serious and  falls under Article 199 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation which states, “Non-payment of taxes on an especially large scale.” If someone was found guilty of this, they could face huge penalties.

Meanwhile, the online news outlet MAsh.ru made the first allegations and now other Russian news sites are picking up the news as well. There has also been news that his accounts have been frozen which are related to his businesses which include the Eagle FC promotion.

The agency was upset that the money that should have gone to taxes was diverted to businesses and charities outside the country.  The story is still in development and more news is coming in every day. Let’s see how the champion fights this battle.