Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp was "confident" of clearing his name
after being accused of an estimated £40,000 tax evasion.
The 62-year-old Londoner voluntarily attended Bishopsgate
police station in the capital to be charged with two counts of
cheating the public revenue.
The move comes at the end of an exhaustive 26-month police
and tax inquiry into alleged corruption in English football.
Charges concern two payments, totalling US$295,000
(£183,000), from former Portsmouth chairman Milan Mandaric to
Redknapp via a bank account in Monaco, evading the tax and National
Insurance contributions due between April 1, 2002 and November 28,
2007.
Ian Burton, Redknapp's solicitor, said: "Harry has
co-operated fully with investigators during the course of this
inquiry and is confident of a successful outcome to these court
proceedings."
After Redknapp was charged at the station at 3.48pm on
Thursday, Burton said: "The £40,000 figure is our estimate."
The Premier League manager will appear at City of Westminster
Magistrates' Court on February 11, a Crown Prosecution Service
spokesman said.
A statement added: "The CPS Revenue and Customs Division
decided there was sufficient evidence and it was in the public
interest to charge Mr Redknapp.
"He is jointly charged with Milan Mandaric, the former
chairman of Portsmouth City (sic) Football Club, following an
investigation by the City of London Police and HM Revenue &
Customs."
Redknapp's arrest was part of a wider inquiry, dubbed
Operation Apprentice, by City of London Police and HM Revenue and
Customs into alleged football corruption.
He was held in November 2007 by investigators examining a
number of transfer deals at his former club, Portsmouth, and at
Birmingham.
The decision sparked a furious response from Redknapp, who
accused police of targeting him because of his high profile.
Other figures who came under the police spotlight were
Birmingham's former managing director, Karren Brady, and former
co-owner David Sullivan.
Portsmouth chief executive Peter Storrie, former chairman
Milan Mandaric, former player Amdy Faye and agent Willie McKay were
also questioned.
Mandaric, 71, now chairman of Leicester, was charged with tax
evasion on Tuesday and ordered to appear in court on February 11.
Prosecutors said the charges relate to the payment of
US$295,000 (£183,000) to another person via a Monaco bank
account, evading tax and National Insurance.
Storrie was charged with concealing a signing-on fee for Faye
by paying it into the midfielder's bank account last November.
The allegation related to the transfer of midfielder Faye
from Auxerre to Portsmouth for £1.5million in August 2003.
Storrie will appear at Southwark Crown Court next Wednesday.
Portsmouth remain in financial turmoil as they struggle to
repay huge debts, including unpaid transfer fees, following two
recent changes in ownership.
Last August, Sullivan and Brady were told no further action
will be taken against them. They always denied any wrongdoing.
In May 2008 Redknapp and wife Sandra launched a court
challenge against his arrest and the search of their home in
Sandbanks, Poole.
They were awarded £1,000 damages against City of London
Police after the High Court ruled a search of their home was
unlawful.
Redknapp is due to address the press at a press conference at
midday on Friday.
