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Portsmouth's Storrie vows to fight charge
22 Oct 2009The chief executive of Portsmouth Football Club spoke of his "astonishment" at being charged with cheating the public revenue and vowed to clear his name, it was reported today.
Peter Storrie said he would defend the allegations - relating to his alleged involvement in Amdy Faye's move to the club from Auxerre in 2003 - "in the strongest possible terms".
Mr Storrie has been on bail since being arrested in November 2007 on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud and false accounting.
A statement released to The Guardian and The Sun newspapers read: "Mr Storrie would like to place on record his astonishment at the decision that has been made to charge him with an offence of cheating the public revenue, and bewilderment as to how such a conclusion could be reached concerning the transfer of the player Amdy Faye to Portsmouth Football Club.
"At the time negotiations to acquire this player were concluded, Mr Storrie was on honeymoon and was not directly concerned in the agreement that was reached regarding Faye's acquisition.
"He was at that time and has continued to be the chief executive of the club and remunerated as such. Mr Storrie did not and could not have gained from any cheating of the public revenue given his role within the club and allowing for the fact that he had no proprietary interest in Portsmouth FC.
"Mr Storrie has fully co-operated with the authorities at every stage of this 31-month investigation in the belief and expectation that after an inquiry as protracted as this, the authorities would understand that there was no wrongdoing in any aspect of the player's transfer.
"Mr Storrie will defend the allegations in the strongest possible terms and is entirely confident that he will be exonerated not only of the allegation of cheating the public revenue, but any suggestion that anything untoward took place concerning any transfer dealings in which he was concerned."
The statement concluded: "Mr Storrie now welcomes the opportunity he will have of clearing himself of these allegations to ensure that his unblemished 20-year reputation in football management remains untarnished.
"He will use all available means to bring these proceedings to their proper conclusion as swiftly as possible."
The probe 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.
He was one of nine football executives questioned by police, all of whom denied any wrongdoing.
In May last year, former Portsmouth FC manager Harry Redknapp and his wife were awarded £1,000 damages against the police after judges held that officers who raided their home as part of the corruption inquiry were acting unlawfully.
Their search warrant was invalid and the High Court said procedural failures by City of London Police in applying for it were "wholly unacceptable".
Meanwhile, lawyers for the former co-owner and former chief executive of Birmingham City Football Club said in August they would not be prosecuted.
David Sullivan and Karren Brady were told no further action would be taken against them, law firm BCL Burton Copeland said in a statement.
