Report reveals major insight on key men involved in ongoing Newcastle saga

Wed 4 October 2017 21:28, UK

By Russell Edge

The HM Revenue and Customs inquiry into alleged tax fraud at Newcastle United surrounds the transfer of former West Ham and Chelsea striker Demba Ba, according to a report.

The Daily Mail claim on their website that officials suspect that the club paid Ba’s agent a fee of £1.9million to be passed to other third parties in order for said parties to avoid both income tax and national insurance contributions, which would have been an estimated £1.1million.

HMRC raided both St James’ Park and West Ham’s London Stadium back in April in order to seize evidence against the individuals involved, with Newcastle’s managing director Lee Charnley, whose home was also searched, arrested and questioned before being released without charge.

The Magpies had contested that the search-and-seize order had been granted unlawfully, but a high court ruling saw their challenge quashed by judges.

The report from the Daily Mail states that HMRC took such measures to avoid the destruction of critical evidence which could implicate both Mr Charnley and former managing director Derek Llambias in the involvement of the scheme.

They quote HMRC officer Lee Griffiths as saying in court: “Given Mr Charnley’s suspected role in the fraud, any advance warning of HMRC’s intention to recover the material would be likely to result in evidence being destroyed or removed.”

The court reportedly heard that Ba’s transfer both to Newcastle and then on to Chelsea are under investigation, as are the purchases of Sylvain Marveaux, Moussa Sissoko, Davide Santon and Papiss Cisse.