Tottenham Hotspur’s manager Harry Redknapp
Tottenham Hotspur manager Harry Redknapp told police he did not fiddle taxes and had paid “fortunes” in income tax, a court heard on Friday.
Redknapp also said he lost £6 million in a property venture in Southsea in south-east England and had squandered £250,000 to help his friend, Jim Smith, keep his managerial job at Oxford United.
He said he had paid £1m in tax in 2008, adding: “We are givers not takers.”
Redknapp, who despite the trial was expected to take charge of his team for their FA Cup tie against Watford on Friday evening, told detectives: “I am not a tax fiddler, I am not any kind of tax fiddler, never have been in my life.”
The prosecution says Redknapp hid $295,000 of bungs in a Monaco account to avoid paying tax.
Redknapp — tipped as a future England manager after his success with Tottenham — and his co-accused Milan Mandaric both deny charges of cheating the public revenue during their time together at Portsmouth Football Club.
In transcripts read to the jury at Southwark Crown Court in London, Redknapp said he had paid £8.5m on property in Southsea in Portsmouth.
He said he had a chance to share the investment with Samir Khan, described as a business associate of former England goalkeeper David James.
Redknapp, described by the prosecution as a “hard-headed businessman”, told officers: “I’ve signed a form that says he’s half in, and he ain’t put no money in, and I’ve signed the forms now — you can ask my solicitor in Bournemouth — and they can’t believe that I didn’t read anything.
“I thought he said ‘I’ll meet you half way, I’ll put half in what you put in.’
“He put half in what I put in up to that point and my own money was about two hundred grand (thousand). Now he’s in for nothing and he has half the profit.
“The only downside is it’s only worth four million pound now and I’ve done like six million you know, my house is up against it but that’s where I’m at, that’s how useless I am with things, and you can check with my solicitor if you like.
“I’ll give you my solicitor’s name, you ask him if he’s ever come across anyone as bad businesswise as I am. Unfortunately I live my life like that.”
Redknapp also told police that he had no reason to try to avoid tax.
“To try and nick a few quid off the income tax… Why? I am not into that. I don’t need that. I would rather give you a hundred grand than nick a few quid off you.
“That’s how I live. I have got a golf day tomorrow… I give 15,000 tomorrow to (a charity) Leukaemia Busters.”
The trial continues next week.
©2011 AFP