The court heard that Mandaric’s lawyer had sent Redknapp’s solicitor a letter asking for the money paid into the manager’s Monaco account to be returned. But he said that the request seeking repayment of cash was not "my number one priority".
Mandaric also said the two were now friends again after a ‘divorce’ over Redknapp joining rival club
Southampton.
Both men are accused on two counts of cheating the public revenue – both of which they deny.
The first charge occurred between 1 April 2002 and 28 November 2007, when Mandaric paid £93,100 into a bank account held by Redknapp in Monaco. The second relates to £96,300 allegedly paid by Mandaric to the same account between 1 May 2004 and 28 November 2007.
The former chairman said the charges were sad, unfair and an insult: "Never, ever in my mind was coming the idea that I could get rich evading money. I did not even know what the word meant. I did not cheat anyone."
It was also disclosed on the sixth day of the tax evasion trial that Redknapp earned £3m a year at Portsmouth while they were still a Championship club, and more than £4m towards the end of his first spell as manager. Mandaric described Redknapp as “a special guy, a special manager but above all he was a special friend,” and that he “earned every penny”.
The trial continues.
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Relied on accountant to manage affairs
26 January 2012 – Harry Redknapp has revealed during his tax evasion trial at Southwark Crown Court that he “can’t write” and that his accountant runs his life.
Jurors were played a police interview where the Tottenham boss said he was “the most disorganised man in the world”, writes like a two-year-old and kept no personal financial records.
Asked by police in June 2009 about Mandaric’s payments to the Monaco account opened under the codename ‘Rosie 47’, Redknapp said: “My accountant runs my life, I don’t have wage slips, I have not seen a wage slip in 10 years. I don’t see bank statements.”
He added that his inability to write was a problem, and explained why he left all financial management to his accountant: "I have a big problem, I can’t write, so I don’t keep anything. I’m the most disorganised person and I’m ashamed to say in the world, I can’t work a computer, I don’t know what an email is, I can’t, I have never sent a fax and I’ve never sent a text message."
Redknapp explained how his accountant, Malcolm Webber, runs his life: “I pay a fortune to my accountant to look after me you know. He writes the cheques for me and my wife. I have never wrote a letter in my life."
He also told police that he was so reliant on his accountant for financial information he was unaware that he had received a £70,000 bonus from Tottenham and that he had not been paid for his Sun newspaper column for 18 months.
Jurors were also told how he had made a list of failed business investments, including losing £250,000 in an unsuccessful takeover bid at Oxford United.
* * *
Sole responsibility’ for Monaco account
25 January 2012 – Harry Redknapp had sole responsibility for the Monaco bank account in the name of his dog, ‘Rosie 47’, into which money was paid by Milan Mandaric, Southwark Crown Court heard today.
Jurors heard that the only signature on records for the account at the centre of £189,000 ‘bung’ allegations belonged to the Tottenham Hotspurs manager.
Giving evidence via videolink David Cusdin, vice-president of HSBC in Monaco between 2000 and 2005, said he was aware Redknapp had visited the bank in 2002 to open a "non-advisory account" and confirmed that the client would have to be present to open an account.
He told the court "in this case, it is a single person on the account … one signature on the account."
Cusdin added: "I was certainly aware of his visit – it was quite possible that I didn’t open the account, it was one of my team – but I was certainly aware of the visit".
He also said that Mandaric was an account holder at the bank and he had met him on several occasions, adding that "Mr Mandaric, is a perfect gentleman… he would always ring prior to the visit".
The prosecution has alleged that Mandaric made payments totalling £189,000 into the Rosie 47 account when he was chairman and Redknapp was manager at Portsmouth FC.
Redknapp and Mandaric both deny two charges of cheating the public revenue during their time at Portsmouth.
The court also heard today that Redknapp had previously told police officers: "I am not going to fiddle taxes, I pay my accountant a fortune to look after me. I am completely and utterly disorganised. I write like a two-year-old and I can’t spell."
Jurors have also heard how he had made "disastrous" business decisions, including losing £250,000 in an unsuccessful takeover bid at Oxford United.
The trial continues.
* * *
Offshore account exposed
24 January 2012 – Tottenham Hotspur manager Harry Redknapp opened a Monaco bank account named after his bulldog Rosie in order to conceal a £189,000 ‘bung’, or off-record bonus, from his former club chairman, Southwark Crown Court has heard.
The jury was told that illicit payments were concealed in a Monaco bank account under the code name ‘Rosie47’ – a combination of the dog’s name and his year of birth.
Redknapp is
facing two charges of tax evasion and has been accused of “deliberately and dishonestly” cheating the public revenue along with co-defendant Milan Mandaric, the former chairman and owner of Portsmouth FC.
The court heard that Redknapp received the money from Mandaric in lieu of commission payments on the transfer of players, including the sale of Peter Crouch to Aston Villa in 2002.
Under the terms of his contract as director of football at Portsmouth, Redknapp received 10% of the net profit on player transfers he conducted, however this was then reduced to 5% on his appointment as manager of the club.
The jury was told that in April 2002 he was paid a £115,000 bonus by Portsmouth, but prosecutor John Black QC said that Redknapp, believing that he should have received 10%, set about receiving it via the Monaco account.
Both Redknapp and Mandaric deny the charges which are alleged to have taken place during his first spell as Portsmouth manager between 2002 and 2004.
The prosecution also said that Redknapp did not declare payments made to or the existence of Monaco account ‘Rosie47’ until four years after it was opened.
Black will complete his opening statement to the jury today before calling the first witnesses at Southwark Crown Court. The trial continues.
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