Redknapp is to face trial accused of tax evasion relating to his time as manager of Portsmouth Football Club. The trial is due to start Monday 23rd January, and is likely to last for two weeks. Two payments totalling $295,000 (about £183,000) were allegedly made by Mr Mandaric to a Monaco bank account opened by Mr Redknapp, apparently linked to a bonus scheme where Redknapp was given a small percentage of any profits from transfers... the moral implications notwithstanding, that last bit isn't actually linked to the charge.The prosecution allege that these payments were concealed in order to avoid the income tax and national insurance contributions for which the club was liable, as his employer, to pay. Redknapp has entered a plea of not guilty.
When dealing with serious tax evasion, the CPS often prefer to charge a suspect with the common law offence of cheating the public revenue. Cheating the public revenue must be tried in the Crown Court and cannot be tried in the magistrates’ court. On conviction, the maximum penalty that can be imposed is life imprisonment and/or an unlimited fine.
Any sentence or fine is based on the seriousness and amount and is decided upon by the judge, but imprisonment of around two years is apparently the likely outcome as for the past few years the CPS have been cracking down on this offence and preferring jail time over fines.
If however he is found guilty and given a fine instead of jail, would his position as Tottenham manager become untenable? Levy has always declined to comment on the matter, saying that it is a private matter, but it would be hard to imagine Levy wanting the media spearhead of Tottenham Hotspur to be one with a criminal record. It might make his job of acquiring funding for the new stadium that little bit more difficult.
Of course, the outcome, sentence and implications for Spurs is all conjecture and Harry is innocent until proven guilty. So let's hope he's proven innocent and continues to take us onwards upwards, because whatever you think of Redknapp, there is no doubt that removing him from the managers position will have a serious effect on the morale of our team and key players who have cited Redknapp as the key to their enjoyment of football at Spurs. I'd hate our title charge to stay alive on the pitch only to be torn apart off it.
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