£8m tax probe which failed to score even once

The verdicts mark a disastrous conclusion to a protracted five-year inquiry into football corruption by the tax authorities and City of London Police.

But Chris Martin, from Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC), insisted the taxman had “no regrets” about pursuing the case.

He said: “Tax evasion is not a victimless crime, because every penny of tax evaded reduces the UK’s ability to pay down the deficit and support our public services.

“We’ve no regrets about pursuing this case because it was vitally important that the facts were put before a jury for their consideration.

“We accept the verdicts of the jury but I would like to remind those who are evading tax by using offshore tax havens that it always makes sense to come to talk to us before we come to talk to you.”

City of London Police began their investigation into money laundering in 2006. A spokesman acknowledged it was immediately clear this was a “high-profile case” that could attract criticism.

“This did not deter the force from taking the case on, nor was it treated any differently to other allegations of fraud and money laundering,” he said.

Emma Boon, campaign director of The TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “The CPS and HMRC must now answer questions about why a five-year long case that has cost £8m has not secured a single conviction.

“Clearly there will not be a conviction in every case the CPS brings but there must have been a strong justification for taking this case to court, rather than HMRC pursuing what was suspected to be unpaid tax through other means.

“Taxpayers understand that our justice system has a price and in many cases that cost is justified, but this looks to be an expensive failure.”

Football has been beset by rumours of corrupt dealings, bungs and bribes for years. Since Brian Clough and George Graham were linked with backhanders in the 1990s, a string of high-profile names have had their reputations called into question.

But despite at least nine arrests, there has not been a single conviction. Five years ago, City of London police launched an initially low-key inquiry with detectives from the economic crime unit, assisted by HMRC inspectors, scouring the private dealings of the sport’s mega-rich for evidence of corrupt cash changing hands.

Police insisted their investigation was independent of an inquiry commissioned by the Premier League. In 2006, the football body brought in former Metropolitan Police Commissioner Lord Stevens and his company Quest to examine several hundred transfers.

But it is clear the police and Quest investigators may have had several common areas of interest with the trail that led officers to Redknapp stemming from an interview he had given to Quest.

The Quest inquiry was set up by Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore following allegations by Sven-Goran Eriksson who had been caught by an undercover reporter making indiscreet comments referring to murky financial dealings.

Luton Town manager Mike Newell also thrust the issue into the spotlight when he told BBC’s Panorama that agents tried to pay him money for illicit transfers.

The Quest team said five football clubs – Chelsea, Newcastle, Bolton, Middlesbrough and Portsmouth – would face further investigation into their transfer deals.

However none of the five clubs, which all co-operated with the inquiry, were reported for breaching transfer regulations.

Lord Stevens has since warned anti-corruption legislation was inadequate.

“Complex laws don’t allow you to drill down into the real substance and gain the evidence you need to convict people for the type of corruption we’re talking about,” he said

“I think the current laws regarding bribery and corruption have been adequately described as ‘obscure, complex, inconsistent and insufficiently comprehensive’.

“Surely that situation cannot be allowed to continue.”