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- Jun 27, 2005
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Harry Redknapp and Milan Mandaric were released on unconditional bail this morning after appearing in court charged with tax evasion.
Redknapp, the Tottenham Hotspur manager, and Mandaric, the Leicester City chairman, spoke only to confirm their names at City of Westminster Magistrates' Court as their case was adjourned until April 14.
Redknapp served as Mandaric's manager when he was chairman of Portsmouth. They were charged on separate dates last month, with each facing two counts of cheating the public revenue. Both men have denied any wrongdoing.
Mandaric left Portsmouth in 2006 while Redknapp, who got the South Coast club promoted to the Premier League in 2003, joined Tottenham in October 2008.
The arrests were made as part of a wider two-year inquiry known as Operation Apprentice by City of London Police and Revenue & Customs into alleged corruption in English football.
"We are surprised and extremely disappointed that the authorities have seen fit to prosecute Mr Mandaric," a statement from Mark Wilson, Mandaric's lawyer, said. "The case against him is misconceived and throughout ill-judged and should have never have been brought.
"It will be very robustly defended. Mr Mandaric has contributed an enormous amount to English football in recent years both at Portsmouth and now at Leicester City.
"In 40 years of business life his integrity had never previously been questioned and this is a matter of great regret that the tax authorities have fought, so recklessly, to malign him now. However, we are absolutely confident that this prosecution will fail."
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/article7023171.ece
Redknapp, the Tottenham Hotspur manager, and Mandaric, the Leicester City chairman, spoke only to confirm their names at City of Westminster Magistrates' Court as their case was adjourned until April 14.
Redknapp served as Mandaric's manager when he was chairman of Portsmouth. They were charged on separate dates last month, with each facing two counts of cheating the public revenue. Both men have denied any wrongdoing.
Mandaric left Portsmouth in 2006 while Redknapp, who got the South Coast club promoted to the Premier League in 2003, joined Tottenham in October 2008.
The arrests were made as part of a wider two-year inquiry known as Operation Apprentice by City of London Police and Revenue & Customs into alleged corruption in English football.
"We are surprised and extremely disappointed that the authorities have seen fit to prosecute Mr Mandaric," a statement from Mark Wilson, Mandaric's lawyer, said. "The case against him is misconceived and throughout ill-judged and should have never have been brought.
"It will be very robustly defended. Mr Mandaric has contributed an enormous amount to English football in recent years both at Portsmouth and now at Leicester City.
"In 40 years of business life his integrity had never previously been questioned and this is a matter of great regret that the tax authorities have fought, so recklessly, to malign him now. However, we are absolutely confident that this prosecution will fail."
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/article7023171.ece
