The professional footballing world has been rocked by a financial scandal said to affect scores of players who claim they were 'mis-sold' film investment schemes - thought to total at least £100m.
Many former high profile Premier League footballers, including Rio Ferdinand, Andy Cole, Robbie Savage, Martin Keown and Danny Murphy, are among those to have invested in the schemes recommended by two men working throughout the industry for years.
Their firm is alleged to have earned more than £5million commission from the investments.
Kevin Campbell, the former Arsenal and Everton striker, is facing bankruptcy after his investments tanked and he lost £7million.
And Danny Murphy, the Liverpool, Fulham and England midfielder, is facing a tax bill of several million pounds.
He told the paper: 'A lot of this stuff was completely mis-sold and misrepresented. We were the victims and you shouldn't feel ashamed, you shouldn't feel embarrassed.
'We were just young lads trying to better ourselves and secure our future. I'm not ashamed to put my name out because we've got to expose this crisis.'
Ferdinand was a major contributor to the schemes, though it was reported he had not suffered losses. However, he is said to have lost £2.1million in property deals recommended by the firm.
Mr McKee and Mr McMenamin have staunchly denied any accusations the investment schemes, centred around the British film industry, were mis-sold.
In a statement, they said clients were fully advised the investments needed to be part of a balanced portfolio, and the accusations are a spite campaign carried out by disgruntled former clients and an ex-employee.
'Without exception, clients were always made aware of the products in which they were invested.'
The film investment schemes were created by Gordon Brown when he was chancellor in a bid to encourage development in the British film industry.
It allowed investors to put their money into a project which in turn offered generous tax rebates.
Many footballers took up the offer, with their own investment supplemented by a bank loan taken out against them.
While this film investment returned a generous tax rebate - this rebate was then placed into property deals in Florida and Marbella which subsequently tanked.
HMRC ISSUES BILLS FOR 'TAX AVOIDANCE' SCHEMES
Created by Gordon Brown when he was chancellor in a bid to encourage development in the British film industry, the film investment schemes allowed investors to fund projects.
Many invested in the schemes, which offered very generous tax rebates, even supplementing their investment with a bank loan in their name.
But in recent years, HMRC has claimed the schemes are a form of tax avoidance. Now many of those, including former Premier League players, are being pursued by the taxman.
While some players were highly-paid superstars and are able to tax the hit, others earned considerably less and may struggle to find the rebates the taxman is demanding are returned.
To compound the problem, in recent years HMRC has challenged the legitimacy of the schemes, claiming they are a form of tax avoidance.
Now many of those former footballers - who were investing for the future while earning large amounts during a short earning peak - are facing bills from the taxman threatening to financially ruin them.
Stuart Cotton, a former HMRC investigator who is representing Campbell, told the Times the estimated $100million was a fraction of the losses.
He claimed total liabilities would be 'well over £1billion', adding that he believed the players were sold film tax schemes which were totally inappropriate, especially for those at the end of their career.
Kingsbridge Asset Management gave at least £61million to Ingenious group, an organisation which offered film schemes and helped finance hits such as Avatar, Life of Pi and The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, the paper reported.
In March last year, Ingenious railed against HMRC's claims the schemes were tax avoidance as 'indiscriminate and unfair'.
A company spokesman said: ‘Ingenious has been trying to obtain a definitive ruling on the tax status of its film and games partnerships for many years.
'The company requested a hearing before the tax tribunal in 2011 to resolve this matter as expeditiously as possible, but HMRC has repeatedly used stalling tactics to delay a hearing.
‘Ingenious is proud of its record in financing hit films, including Avatar, Life of Pi and The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, which have generated more than £1 billion of taxable revenue for the UK Treasury, with a further £1 billion of taxable revenue expected over the life of the films.’
England's Rugby World Cup flops 'blew more than £100,000
A group of England rugby players are said to be furious that an alleged investment tip from the team's kit man tanked, costing more than £100,000.
The Sun on Sunday reported Dave Tennison, England's kit man since 2002, sent emails urging players to invest in LGO Energy throughout the team's summer training camps and just days before their Rugby World Cup game against Fiji.
Among the players said to have invested in the oil drilling shares - which have plummeted from £3.27 to 50p - are scrum-half Danny Care, centre Sam Burgess, and prop David Wilson.
The paper reported the poor shares deal caused acrimony among the players during the buildup to the World Cup in which England failed to progress beyond the pool stages.
An England Rugby spokesperson said the organisation was taking the matter extremely seriously and had launched an internal investigation.
When approached by the paper, Tennison said he had no comment to make.
Many former high profile Premier League footballers, including Rio Ferdinand, Andy Cole, Robbie Savage, Martin Keown and Danny Murphy, are among those to have invested in the schemes recommended by two men working throughout the industry for years.
Their firm is alleged to have earned more than £5million commission from the investments.
Kevin Campbell, the former Arsenal and Everton striker, is facing bankruptcy after his investments tanked and he lost £7million.
And Danny Murphy, the Liverpool, Fulham and England midfielder, is facing a tax bill of several million pounds.
He told the paper: 'A lot of this stuff was completely mis-sold and misrepresented. We were the victims and you shouldn't feel ashamed, you shouldn't feel embarrassed.
 |
| Rio Ferdinand |
'We were just young lads trying to better ourselves and secure our future. I'm not ashamed to put my name out because we've got to expose this crisis.'
Ferdinand was a major contributor to the schemes, though it was reported he had not suffered losses. However, he is said to have lost £2.1million in property deals recommended by the firm.
Mr McKee and Mr McMenamin have staunchly denied any accusations the investment schemes, centred around the British film industry, were mis-sold.
In a statement, they said clients were fully advised the investments needed to be part of a balanced portfolio, and the accusations are a spite campaign carried out by disgruntled former clients and an ex-employee.
'Without exception, clients were always made aware of the products in which they were invested.'
The film investment schemes were created by Gordon Brown when he was chancellor in a bid to encourage development in the British film industry.
It allowed investors to put their money into a project which in turn offered generous tax rebates.
Many footballers took up the offer, with their own investment supplemented by a bank loan taken out against them.
While this film investment returned a generous tax rebate - this rebate was then placed into property deals in Florida and Marbella which subsequently tanked.
HMRC ISSUES BILLS FOR 'TAX AVOIDANCE' SCHEMES
Created by Gordon Brown when he was chancellor in a bid to encourage development in the British film industry, the film investment schemes allowed investors to fund projects.
Many invested in the schemes, which offered very generous tax rebates, even supplementing their investment with a bank loan in their name.
 |
| Danny Murphy |
But in recent years, HMRC has claimed the schemes are a form of tax avoidance. Now many of those, including former Premier League players, are being pursued by the taxman.
While some players were highly-paid superstars and are able to tax the hit, others earned considerably less and may struggle to find the rebates the taxman is demanding are returned.
To compound the problem, in recent years HMRC has challenged the legitimacy of the schemes, claiming they are a form of tax avoidance.
Now many of those former footballers - who were investing for the future while earning large amounts during a short earning peak - are facing bills from the taxman threatening to financially ruin them.
Stuart Cotton, a former HMRC investigator who is representing Campbell, told the Times the estimated $100million was a fraction of the losses.
He claimed total liabilities would be 'well over £1billion', adding that he believed the players were sold film tax schemes which were totally inappropriate, especially for those at the end of their career.
Kingsbridge Asset Management gave at least £61million to Ingenious group, an organisation which offered film schemes and helped finance hits such as Avatar, Life of Pi and The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, the paper reported.
In March last year, Ingenious railed against HMRC's claims the schemes were tax avoidance as 'indiscriminate and unfair'.
A company spokesman said: ‘Ingenious has been trying to obtain a definitive ruling on the tax status of its film and games partnerships for many years.
'The company requested a hearing before the tax tribunal in 2011 to resolve this matter as expeditiously as possible, but HMRC has repeatedly used stalling tactics to delay a hearing.
‘Ingenious is proud of its record in financing hit films, including Avatar, Life of Pi and The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, which have generated more than £1 billion of taxable revenue for the UK Treasury, with a further £1 billion of taxable revenue expected over the life of the films.’
England's Rugby World Cup flops 'blew more than £100,000
A group of England rugby players are said to be furious that an alleged investment tip from the team's kit man tanked, costing more than £100,000.
The Sun on Sunday reported Dave Tennison, England's kit man since 2002, sent emails urging players to invest in LGO Energy throughout the team's summer training camps and just days before their Rugby World Cup game against Fiji.
Among the players said to have invested in the oil drilling shares - which have plummeted from £3.27 to 50p - are scrum-half Danny Care, centre Sam Burgess, and prop David Wilson.
The paper reported the poor shares deal caused acrimony among the players during the buildup to the World Cup in which England failed to progress beyond the pool stages.
An England Rugby spokesperson said the organisation was taking the matter extremely seriously and had launched an internal investigation.
When approached by the paper, Tennison said he had no comment to make.
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