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Newcastle boss Lee Charnley arrested as part of HMRC tax probe

The HMRC this morning (Wednesday) raided St James’ Park as part of a wider probe into transfer dealings at the club, just days after Newcastle United confirmed their return to the Premier League at the first time of asking.

As part of the investigation, Newcastle’s Managing Director Lee Charnley has also been arrested with HMRC representatives pictured removing evidence from Charnley’s Gosforth home.

He was later released without charge.

The investigation looks to be centered around income tax and national insurance fraud, with Premier League club West Ham United also having their ground raided as part of the ongoing probe.

In a statement released this morning, an HMRC spokesperson said: “HMRC has arrested several men working within the professional football industry for a suspected Income Tax and National Insurance fraud.

“180 HMRC officers have been deployed across the UK and France today. Investigators have searched a number of premises in the North East and South East of England and arrested the men and also seized business records, financial records, computers and mobile phones.

“The French authorities are assisting the UK investigation, have made arrests and several locations have been searched in France. This criminal investigation sends a clear message that, whoever you are, if you commit tax fraud you can expect to face the consequences.

“As this is an ongoing investigation HMRC is unable to provide any further detail at this time.”

Exact details have been thin on the ground, with fans and analysts speculating as to whether today’s dramatic developments will have an impact on the club’s promotion from the Championship.

In a statement on the club’s website, Newcastle confirmed that ‘a member of its staff has this morning been assisting HMRC with their inquiries’ but that it would be making no further comment at this time.

In comments reported by the Daily Mirror, the HMRC told Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee back in December that they had opened investigations into 12 clubs pertaining to abuse of image rights for possible tax avoidance purposes in relation relating to 43 transfers. It is unclear whether these comments have any relation to today’s raids.

At the time, HMRC said: “The rules allow income for image rights to be treated as a separate revenue stream. When combined with “non-dom” status this creates an incentive for individuals to maximise the proportion of income that is deemed to be for image rights in order to reduce tax liability.

It added: “We are appalled to hear that not all football clubs are providing HMRC with data under a voluntary agreement struck with the English Premier League.”

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