Storrie charged with tax evasion

Portsmouth chief executive Peter Storrie was formally charged with tax evasion on Wednesday.

Prosecutors accused him of concealing a signing-on fee for Amdy Faye by paying it into the midfielder’s bank account.

The charge relates to the transfer of midfielder Faye from Auxerre to Portsmouth for £1.5 million in August 2003 and it was alleged that Faye was paid a £250,000 signing-on fee on which tax and national insurance was not paid.

The charge alleges Storrie cheated the “public revenue” between July 1 2003, and August 12 2005.

And it claimed the money was paid into the account of agent Willie McKay, who has also been questioned by police.

But Storrie vowed to clear his name two weeks ago when he was informed of the decision to prosecute him.

He issued a statement insisting he will defend himself in the “strongest possible terms” and is confident he will be exonerated.

Mr Storrie has been on bail since being arrested in November 2007 on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud and false accounting.

The inquiry into Mr Storrie’s finances was part of a wider investigation by City of London Police and HM Revenue and Customs into corruption in football known as Operation Apprentice.

He was one of nine football executives questioned by police, all of whom denied any wrongdoing.

Storrie will now appear at City of Westminster Magistrates’ Court on November 16, a spokesman for HM Revenue and Customs Prosecution Office (RCPO) said.