CPS brings tax evasion charges against Mandaric

FORMER Portsmouth chairman Milan Mandaric has been charged with tax evasion, the Crown Prosecution Service said yesterday.

Mandaric, now chairman of Leicester, strenuously denied the allegations when it emerged last month prosecutors intended to bring charges.

He will appear at the City of Westminster Magistrates' Court on 11 February over two counts of "cheating the public revenue".

Mandaric was arrested with former Pompey manager Harry Redknapp and three other men in November 2007 as part of a continuing inquiry by fraud detectives to root out alleged corruption in football. Both men have denied any wrongdoing.

The charges against Mandaric relate to the payment of 183,000 to another person via a bank account in Monaco, evading the tax and national insurance contributions, the CPS said.

A CPS spokesman said: "Following a thorough investigation by HM Revenue and Customs and the City of London Police, the CPS decided there was sufficient evidence and it was in the public interest to charge Mr Mandaric with two counts of cheating the public revenue."