Wednesday, 8 February 2012

Redknapp and Mandaric Cleared



Harry Redknapp has been cleared of evading tax on payments made to his Monaco bank account.

The Tottenham boss had denied accepting secret untaxed bonus payments from former Portsmouth chairman Milan Mandaric, while he was club manager.

Mr Mandaric was also cleared of two charges of cheating the public revenue.

Jurors rejected prosecution claims the money was a bonus for selling Peter Crouch and beating Manchester United.

Mr Redknapp and Mr Mandaric embraced in the dock as the verdicts were read after five hours of deliberations.

Mr Mandaric walked up to Det Insp Dave Manley to shake his hand and said "Thank you".

It can also now be reported that Mr Mandaric and Peter Storrie, Portsmouth's former chief executive, were cleared of tax evasion charges at a separate trial last October.

They were both accused of evading tax over player Eyal Berkovics's termination fee.

Mr Storrie was also accused of dodging tax on a signing-on fee to midfielder Amdy Faye when he moved from Auxerre to Portsmouth.

Mr Storrie, who is now allowed to speak about his trial, told BBC News: "We said from day one that it [the case] was farcical.

"I am delighted we've been proved completely innocent and I can get my reputation back."

During Mr Redknapp's and Mr Mandaric's trial, jurors heard the Spurs boss received two payments totalling £189,000, into his "Rosie 47" account in Monaco - named after his pet dog.

The defence said the money was an investment made by Mr Mandaric while Mr Redknapp said he forgot about the account and had very little to do with it.

The prosecution claimed the first payment of £93,100 was a bonus for selling striker Crouch for £3.25m profit.

The court heard Mr Redknapp's cut of transfer profits was reduced from 10% to 5% when he moved from being Portsmouth's director of football to manager in March 2002 but Mr Redknapp told jurors he felt he was was "morally" due the full 10%.

Mr Mandaric said he "wanted to do something special for Harry" but he denied it was compensation for his Crouch bonus and said it was an investment for a "friend".

It was claimed the second payment of £96,300 was a bonus for Portsmouth beating Manchester United.

But Mr Mandaric's barrister, Lord MacDonald, described the accusation as "really desperate stuff".

He said there was "nothing even slightly sinister" about the actions.

Chris Martins, from HM Revenue and Customs, said outside court: "Tax evasion is not a victim-less crime.

"We have no regrets about pursuing this case, it was vitally important the facts were put in front of a jury. We accept the verdicts."