Post by QPR Report on Jan 15, 2010 9:04:15 GMT
The Times
Harry Redknapp accused of cheating taxpayer out of £40,000
(Jamie McPhilimey)
Redknapp, former Portsmouth manager, allegedly used a Monaco account
Chris Smyth
Harry Redknapp, the Tottenham Hotspur manager, was charged with two counts of tax evasion yesterday after allegedly cheating Revenue & Customs out of about £40,000 while manager of Porstmouth FC.
Mr Redknapp, 62, was charged alongside the former Portsmouth chairman, Milan Mandaric, who is alleged to have paid $295,000 (£180,850) into a Monaco bank account belonging to Mr Redknapp to avoid paying income tax and national insurance.
As a common law offence, there is technically no maximum sentence for the charge, which means that an unlimited fine or prison sentence could be decided at a judge's discretion, according to a Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) spokesman.
Tottenham Hotspur is standing by Mr Redknapp, saying that his job is unaffected because the charges are not football-related and the alleged offences happened before he joined the club. Mr Redknapp will appear in court next month after voluntarily attending Bishopsgate police station yesterday afternoon to be charged.
Mr Mandaric, who was charged on Tuesday, will appear alongside him at Westminster Magistrates’ Court. The Serbian-American businessman contends that the payment was a personal arrangement, rather than an attempt to avoid taxes. “I have done nothing wrong and independent tax experts have already confirmed that, in their opinion, there is no tax liability,” Mr Mandaric said in a statement.
A CPS spokesman said: “The charges concern two payments, totalling $295,000, from Mr Mandaric to Mr Redknapp via a bank account in Monaco, evading the tax and national insurance contributions due between April 1, 2002, and November 28, 2007. The payments were in relation to Mr Redknapp’s employment.”
Yesterday’s action grew out of a lengthy investigation into alleged corruption in English football. Mr Redknapp was arrested in November 2007 by officers investigating transfer deals at Portsmouth and Birmingham.
Mr Redknapp reacted furiously at the time, suggesting that he was being targeted. The following May he and his wife Sandra were awarded £1,000 in damages after the High Court ruled that the search of their home in Sandbanks, Poole, was unlawful.
Mr Redknapp, who joined Tottenham Hotspur in October 2008, is one of the most successful English managers in the Premier League. He guided Portsmouth to promotion to the top division in 2003. When he joined Tottenham last season the club was bottom of the league but, under Mr Redknapp, they are at present chasing a Champions League place.
Mr Mandaric left Portsmouth in 2006. Since then the club has dropped to the bottom of the table and is struggling with financial problems that led to missed wage payments to players three times this season.
Tax authorities are seeking to have Portsmouth wound up because they do not believe that the club will be able to recover tax and national insurance payments that they are owed. A court hearing is due next month. Peter Storrie, the Portsmouth chief executive, is due back in court next week to answer tax evasion charges in connection with a signing-on fee allegedly paid to the midfielder Amdy Faye.
www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/tottenham/article6988670.ece
Harry Redknapp accused of cheating taxpayer out of £40,000
(Jamie McPhilimey)
Redknapp, former Portsmouth manager, allegedly used a Monaco account
Chris Smyth
Harry Redknapp, the Tottenham Hotspur manager, was charged with two counts of tax evasion yesterday after allegedly cheating Revenue & Customs out of about £40,000 while manager of Porstmouth FC.
Mr Redknapp, 62, was charged alongside the former Portsmouth chairman, Milan Mandaric, who is alleged to have paid $295,000 (£180,850) into a Monaco bank account belonging to Mr Redknapp to avoid paying income tax and national insurance.
As a common law offence, there is technically no maximum sentence for the charge, which means that an unlimited fine or prison sentence could be decided at a judge's discretion, according to a Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) spokesman.
Tottenham Hotspur is standing by Mr Redknapp, saying that his job is unaffected because the charges are not football-related and the alleged offences happened before he joined the club. Mr Redknapp will appear in court next month after voluntarily attending Bishopsgate police station yesterday afternoon to be charged.
Mr Mandaric, who was charged on Tuesday, will appear alongside him at Westminster Magistrates’ Court. The Serbian-American businessman contends that the payment was a personal arrangement, rather than an attempt to avoid taxes. “I have done nothing wrong and independent tax experts have already confirmed that, in their opinion, there is no tax liability,” Mr Mandaric said in a statement.
A CPS spokesman said: “The charges concern two payments, totalling $295,000, from Mr Mandaric to Mr Redknapp via a bank account in Monaco, evading the tax and national insurance contributions due between April 1, 2002, and November 28, 2007. The payments were in relation to Mr Redknapp’s employment.”
Yesterday’s action grew out of a lengthy investigation into alleged corruption in English football. Mr Redknapp was arrested in November 2007 by officers investigating transfer deals at Portsmouth and Birmingham.
Mr Redknapp reacted furiously at the time, suggesting that he was being targeted. The following May he and his wife Sandra were awarded £1,000 in damages after the High Court ruled that the search of their home in Sandbanks, Poole, was unlawful.
Mr Redknapp, who joined Tottenham Hotspur in October 2008, is one of the most successful English managers in the Premier League. He guided Portsmouth to promotion to the top division in 2003. When he joined Tottenham last season the club was bottom of the league but, under Mr Redknapp, they are at present chasing a Champions League place.
Mr Mandaric left Portsmouth in 2006. Since then the club has dropped to the bottom of the table and is struggling with financial problems that led to missed wage payments to players three times this season.
Tax authorities are seeking to have Portsmouth wound up because they do not believe that the club will be able to recover tax and national insurance payments that they are owed. A court hearing is due next month. Peter Storrie, the Portsmouth chief executive, is due back in court next week to answer tax evasion charges in connection with a signing-on fee allegedly paid to the midfielder Amdy Faye.
www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/tottenham/article6988670.ece