Sheffield Wednesday Chairman Milan Mandaric has today been found not guilty on charges of tax evasion following a two-week trial at Southwark Crown Court in London. The jury took two days of deliberation to reach their verdict, clearing Mandaric and Spurs manager Harry Redknapp of the charges brought against them.
The much-publicised trial, relating to financial matters when the pair worked together at Portsmouth FC, centred on payments made to a Monaco bank account in 2002. It was alleged by the prosecution that 2 payments made to this account totalling £189,000 were football related payments that should have been taxable. However the jury found that the evidence did not show this to be the case and critics have questioned whether this expensive trial should have been taken through the courts in the first place.
In a statement on the SWFC official website Milan Mandaric stated that the suggestion that he would cheat the taxman in this way given the amount of tax he has paid since putting his money into English football was offensive to him, his family and his friends.
He also stated that he was delighted by the verdict of the trial and that truth and the British Justice system had prevailed.