Redknapp payments did not cheat anyone, says Mandaric
FORMER Portsmouth chairman Milan Mandaric, the man accused of paying “bungs” to Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp, says he does not know the meaning of tax evasion.
Denying that payments totalling £189,400 made to Redknapp’s offshore account were deliberate attempts to bypass income tax and National Insurance, Mandaric told Southwark Crown Court: “I did not cheat anyone”.
He added: “Never, ever in my mind was the idea I could get rich evading money. I did not even know what the word meant. I paid £55m income taxes for six years.”
Mandaric testified as the high-profile trial reached its seventh day. He and Redknapp, the favourite to be next England manager, deny two charges of tax evasion relating to payments made between 2002 and 2007.
The Serbia-born American has argued that cash he paid into Redknapp’s Monaco account – code-named Rosie 47 after his pet dog – was “seed money” for the Spurs boss to invest but ultimately repay.
The trial continues.