Two English clubs in tax raid shock
FOUR DEALS
NEWCASTLE UNITED and West Ham were raided yesterday morning as tax officials in the UK and France took dramatic steps to investigate a suspected £5million of fraud across the football industry. The computers and telephones of a number of agents were seized and ‘several men’ were arrested as 180 tax officials searched for information
about ‘hidden payments’, allegedly made during transfers between English and French clubs.
Newcastle managing director Lee Charnley, owner Mike Ashley’s main man at the club, was arrested at his home at 6am yesterday and spent ten hours with officers before being released without charge.
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) officers also visited Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge offices — as MailOnline revealed yesterday — to request information in connection with the raids.
Less than 48 hours after winning promotion back to the Premier League, Newcastle players were stunned by the sight of HMRC officers descending on their training ground.
West Ham insiders said around 40 tax officials visited their premises, with one source telling
Sportsmail that computers belonging to academy staff had been seized.
The officers arrived at West Ham’s London Stadium in unmarked white vans at around 8am, with a helicopter circling overhead.
Just after midday, a small team of officers wearing ‘HM Revenue and Customs’ bibs could be seen carrying clipboards and plastic folders inside the stadium car park.
Charnley, 39, will return to work today, with HMRC officers expected back at St James’ Park to continue their enquiries.
British tax authorities are working in tandem with their French counterparts, who made four arrests — all believed to be football agents — yesterday.
Sportsmail understands Olympique de Marseille are central to the investigation and transfers involving the French club, Newcastle and West Ham are being examined.
Senior Marseille directors have already been charged as part of an ongoing probe, which has seen 800 bank accounts and 110 companies examined.
Reports in France claimed there was a link with Marseille as well as criminal gangs based in Corsica and mainland France.
Numerous transfers between Marseille and both Newcastle and West Ham have taken place in recent years, the most high-profile of which was Dimitri Payet’s switch to London in 2015 for £10.7m. He rejoined his former club for £25m in January.
In another deal, Newcastle bought Florian Thauvin for a reported £15m in 2015 and loaned him back to Marseille for two seasons. He is due to be sold back this summer for £9.8m.
Newcastle also bought Remy Cabella from Montpellier in 2014 for a reported £12m. He was loaned to Marseille until the deal was made permanent last summer for a fee of £6.3m.
French midfielder Alou Diarra’s switch from Marseille to West Ham in August 2012 for around £2m is also under scrutiny. Diarra spent a disastrous five months at the east London club before accusing an agent of misleading him. There is no suggestion of any wrongdoing by any of the players.
A number of Newcastle deals involving French players are understood to have been facilitated by former QPR and Falkirk striker Simon Stainrod, 58. Newcastle have previously confirmed Stainrod was ‘involved with the club’, having based himself in Dubai as a Scotland-registered agent. He was stripped of his official agent’s licence by the FA in 2012 for failing to produce requested documents. There is no suggestion of wrongdoing by Stainrod.
One well-placed leading sports lawyer suggested last night that ‘dual representation’ in transfer deals could be the focus of this investigation.
Football authorities do allow an agent to represent a club as well as the player in a transfer deal, but that has become an area of serious concern for HMRC — particularly with regard to benefits and expenses declared on tax forms.
‘If that issue is at the centre of the investigation, this could extend to looking at a huge percentage of transfers in the English game,’ said the lawyer.
The HMRC press office were not prepared to either confirm or deny reports of other arrests, or claims that the homes of some players had also been targeted in raids.
A spokesperson said yesterday: ‘HMRC has arrested several men working within the professional football industry for a suspected £5m income tax and National Insurance fraud — 180 HMRC officers have been deployed across the United Kingdom and France today.
‘Investigators have searched a number of premises in the north east and south east of England and arrested the men and also seized business records, financial records, computers and mobile phones.
‘The French authorities are assisting the UK investigation, have made arrests, and several locations have been searched in France.
‘This criminal investigation sends a very clear message that, whoever you are, if you commit tax fraud, you can expect to face the consequences.’
Last night a statement from the French authorities said: ‘On April 26, 2017, a number of arrests and searches were carried out in France in connection with the execution by the national financial prosecutor (PNF) of a request on July 29, 2016, for mutual assistance from the British judicial authorities.
‘Ten searches were carried out all over France and four people were held in custody. Documents were also seized.
‘The investigation is being conducted by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC). It deals with cases of aggravated tax evasion and the laundering of aggravated tax fraud committed during several transfers of football players between French clubs and clubs playing in the Premier League.
‘The UK authorities suspect hidden payments to certain players, their agents or third parties, allowing them to evade income taxes and social security contributions.
‘This judicial operation to combat tax fraud, carried out jointly by the French and British authorities and supervised by two PNF magistrates, took several months to prepare and mobilised 32 investigators.’
In December, HMRC confirmed in a parliamentary hearing that 43 players, 12 teams and eight agents were being investigated over ‘the potential abuse of the rules relating to image rights’, which it described as ‘the most significant tax risk among footballers’.
Yesterday, a West Ham spokesperson confirmed that the club were ‘co-operating fully’ with the investigation.
A Newcastle statement said: ‘Newcastle United can confirm that a member of its staff has this morning been assisting HMRC with their enquiries.’
Chelsea’s offices at Stamford Bridge were not raided and no allegations of wrongdoing have been made against the Premier League leaders.
But HMRC officers and officials did make a request for information relating to their investigation into corruption in football.
A spokesman for Chelsea said: ‘In connection with its wider investigation, HMRC has requested certain information which the club will provide.’