In court on Wednesday Tottenham Hotspur manager Harry Redknapp denied allegations he channeled payments to a secret bank account in Monaco to avoid paying taxes on the money.
“I have always paid my taxes. I’ve always gone to the best available people,” Redknapp told Southwark Crown Court during his trial for allegedly cheating the tax authorities.He also said his accountants ensured that “I have always paid too much tax rather than not enough,” Britain’s Press Association reported.
Redknapp denies two counts ofcheating the public revenue by hiding $295,000 in payments received from Milan Mandaric when the pair worked at Portsmouth. Redknapp managed Portsmouth from 2002 to 2004 and againfrom 2005 to 2008 before moving to Tottenham. Mandaric was chairman of Portsmouth and is now in the same role at Sheffield Wednesday.
The manager confirmed he had received a 300,000-pound($473,400) gift from West Ham United for the sale of Rio Ferdinand to Leeds United when he managed the club in 2000. “The club was not contractually obligated to pay that moneyI suppose,” he said. The prosecution has labeled the payments “bungs”, British slang for illegal secret payments made in connection with player transfers.