DISPUTE OVER CROUCH TRANSFER PAYMENT

WHEN Portsmouth sold Peter Crouch to Aston Villa for £5million in March 2002, the deal's significance barely registered on football's Richter Scale.

But, more than seven years later, the aftermath of the Crouch transfer is still being investigated by police and Revenue and Customs officials.

And the men at the heart of the deal still seem unable to agree on just why a six-figure sum was paid into an offshore bank account in Harry Redknapp's name by former Portsmouth chairman Milan Mandaric.

Portsmouth bought Crouch from QPR for £1.25m in July 2000 and - after settling all outstanding fees - were left with a net profit of around £2m when he moved to Villa Park.

Redknapp insists that, under the terms of his contract as Director of Football at Fratton Park, he was owed 10 per cent of the profit Portsmouth made on Crouch.

The money paid into his HSBC account in Monaco was the balance of that payment, which was later transferred to his HSBC account in the UK.

Mandaric claims the sum was not part of any contractual bonus owed to Redknapp or even connected to the football club but simply a payment to a friend in order for him to make a business investment.

Current Portsmouth chief executive Peter Storrie admits Redknapp was paid five per cent of the the profit on the Crouch deal through Portsmouth's payroll but has no knowledge of any subsequent transaction between Redknapp and Mandaric.

Storrie, though, was also paid in the region of £100,000 by Mandaric into another offshore account as a bonus for helping to sell Portsmouth to Sacha Gaydamak in 2006 although this is NOT being investigated by either the police or Inland Revenue.

There are no suggestions whatsoever that any of the three men involved is guilty of any wrongdoing over the payment, even though the Crouch deal still forms part of a long- running investigation by City of London police and Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs.

In fact, so anxious was Mandaric to co-operate with the authorities that he wrote to Quest, who were heading the Premier League's investigation into football corruption, outlining the full details of the transaction.

Seven years on, though, there is still a dispute between the three over the £100,000 paid to Redknapp by Mandaric.

Redknapp said: "I got a percentage of sell-on (fees) in my contract at Portsmouth if I sold a player. The club paid me five per cent (for Crouch) through the club. I went back to Milan because I had signed a new contract that said five per cent but I said 'No, when I signed Crouch it was 10 per cent, so I want 10 per cent' and Milan said 'Okay, Harry, I accept that.''

"Milan never had a bank account in England so he said 'The only way I can do it is from my American account and I will have to open an account for you in Monaco.'

"I said 'I don't want an account in Monaco, I just want it in England, I don't want the money over there.' Then I thought that maybe I wouldn't get it if I didn't do that, so that's what I did. I said (to Mandaric) 'What about the tax?' He said the tax had been paid in America. But just in case it wasn't, when I transferred the money back, my accountants got straight onto the Revenue and told them the money was being transferred from Monaco.

"If there is a tax issue, they're aware of it.

"The money was left there for about three or four years, I didn't even bother with it. I told Quest when they asked me if I had an offshore bank account.

"I said it was opened up by Milan Mandaric for me, one payment went in and a payment came out when I moved it back to England and the Revenue know all about it and it's fair enough. So there's no story."

Mandaric's account, however, is at odds with Redknapp's version. He said: "It's got nothing to do with bonuses. I never paid any bonuses into offshore accounts to anyone, okay?

"All bonuses were paid from Portsmouth to their accounts in England, simple as that.

"Everything was done above board. It was a certain investment for Harry in America and I helped him, that's all.

"I was working with Harry on something that he wanted to make an American investment. It's got nothing to do with the football club. Do you think I am stupid to do something like paying some money from the club to someone offshore? Why should I do that?

"I did a favour for Harry but it was away, nothing to do with the football club.

"It was directly from America, away from the club and I don't know what Harry's done with that. As far as I'm concerned it was done properly. It was done right but it had nothing to do with the football club.

"The deal was done personally between Harry and Milan Mandaric and away from football."

Mandaric and Redknapp at Pompey

When asked why he had written to Quest, Mandaric said: "I am straight. If you ask me something today I will tell you the truth. Why would I put the letter, for God's sake, if I felt there was something wrong.

"I have got to tell the truth. There's only one truth and it will always prevail and there's nothing wrong with the truth."

Storrie, who was chief executive at Fratton Park during Redknapp's reign as manager, said: "Harry was on five per cent (of net transfer profits) and he was paid through the company, through Portsmouth Football Club and taxed on it in the normal way.

"He got paid - it was about £115,000, about five per cent of the net profit on Crouch and he had tax and National Insurance deducted by the company in the normal way.

"The transfers he got paid five per cent on were legitimately paid. I did that and I put it through, he paid the tax and the NI in the normal way.

"It would never, ever be done any other way. I would never have it any other way."

Storrie did, however, have to set up his own offshore account to receive a £100,000 bonus for his part in selling Portsmouth to Gaydamak. He explained: "I actually sold the company for him (Mandaric) and he paid me the money and I paid the tax.

"It's fully declared on my tax return and I paid every single penny in tax.

"It had to be paid offshore because Milan owned the business offshore.

"I have never owned an offshore account in my life, I didn't know what it was all about.

"I just got my accountant to sort it out and pay the tax on it which I did. It was all perfectly legal.

"All Milan's other stuff, I haven't got a clue. I didn't have any involvement, never knew how he ran his businesses outside of Portsmouth, never got involved, never wanted to know.

"I know nothing about that. I told the police that as well."

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