West Ham Raided By Police After Tax Investigation

This morning West Ham United and Newcastle United have been subject to shock police raids after an investigation by Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs into the club’s transfer dealings.

Sky Sports News broke the news that the taxman had arrested several people following the raid:

Both the London Stadium and St. James’ Park were subject to warrants and it has emerged that Newcastle's managing director, Lee Charnley, has been arrested. The news coming less than 24 hours after Newcastle secured their promotion back into the Premier League after one season in the Championship.

Charnley’s transfer policy has seen a net spend of around £70 million in 2016, he said of this policy:

"Our approach, following relegation, was to make further sizeable investment in our playing squad in preparation for the EFL Championship season ahead and our annual wage bill is, we believe, still above and beyond many current Premier League teams.

Whilst not without financial risks, this strategy was adopted in order to maximise our chances of promotion at the first time of asking."

At this time it is unclear the outcome of the raid at West Ham headquarters, but the BBC have reported that "the suspected income tax and National Insurance fraud amounts to £5m."

It now appears that West Ham and Newcastle are just two of the teams involved in the investigation. A Chelsea spokesman confirmed their offices had been visited by HMRC, "in connection with its wider investigation", but no arrests were made.

In a statement, West Ham have said the club was "co-operating fully with HMC to assist their inquiries”. It has since emerged that the Rush Green training ground was raided along with offices at London Stadium.

This is a breaking story and we will have more details as things become clearer