Redknapp 'opened secret account to avoid tax bill'

Harry Redknapp leaving Southwark Crown Court yesterday (Getty Images)

The man tipped to be the next boss of the England football team, Harry Redknapp, set up a secret Monaco bank account named after his pet dog to receive bungs of nearly £200,000 and hide them from the taxman, a court heard yesterday.

Mr Redknapp – the Tottenham Hotspur manager – flew to the principality to "deliberately and dishonestly" bank two large payments from Milan Mandaric, the chairman of his then employers, Portsmouth Football Club, Southwark Crown Court heard. The 64-year-old only told of the existence of the account after a two-year tax investigation into a £300,000 bonus paid to him following a transfer involving former England captain Rio Ferdinand, the court heard. The prosecution said Mr Redknapp's "hard-headed business acumen" saw him earn a salary of up to £500,000 and far more in bonuses. As Portsmouth director of football, Mr Redknapp had a clause in his contract giving him 10 per cent of any profits made from the sale of players. But when he was made manager in 2002, the contract was cut to 5 per cent. Days later the club agreed the sale of Peter Crouch for £4.5m to Aston Villa, netting Mr Redknapp more than £115,000, but half of what he could have earned under his old contract.

The prosecution allege that four days after the bonus was signed off by a senior executive, Mr Redknapp flew to Monaco to set up the account at HSBC under the name Rosie 47, combining the name of his dog and the date of Mr Redknapp's birth, said John Black QC, prosecuting.

Mr Redknapp and Mr Mandaric, 73, deny two counts of tax evasion. The case continues.