The 43-year-old denies that he has deliberately cheated on the tax, but admits negligence. – I realize that I should have understood better, but I didn’t. The most important thing for me to say is that I have done nothing on purpose, says John Carew in court. He started his free explanation by talking about his life as a footballer, where he signed his first contract as a 17-year-old for Vålerenga in 1997 and later signed for one of the world’s best football clubs, Valencia. The clubs fixed everything from the appliance to the purchase of furniture, flats, bank accounts and tax deductions, he says. – I heard about the tax authority in 2009 The 43-year-old talks about his close relationship with the “reserve dad”, advisor and agent Per Arne Flod, in whom he “has had enormous trust” – I had not thought about taxes or tax issues at all before I heard about the tax authority out of the blue in 2009 or 2010, when Per contacted me, says Carew in court. GARDERMOEN 2005: John Carew comes for a quick visit to Norway the day after it is known that he will become a Lyon player. Agent Per A. Flod is also there. Photo: Heiko Junge / SCANPIX He explains that at the time they were right in a dispute with the tax authorities. That is why he trusted Flod when new questions arose a few years later. – Last time they were wrong, and now they will probably try again. That was my understanding of the case, says Carew in court. The crux of the matter is that Carew has stayed too long in Norway to not pay taxes to his home country. Carew explains that he has trusted his advisor Per Arne Flod too much. – He was very clear that the 183-day rule was not decisive for my tax residence, says Carew. 183 days is more than half the year. The public prosecutor believes that Carew has broken completely elementary provisions. They believe he has been grossly negligent in the first three years from 2014 to 2016, and acted knowingly and willfully in the last three from 2017 to 2019. – If you live in Norway, you must pay taxes to Norway. In short, the indictment is based on Carew’s having to disclose all his income and assets in Norway and abroad to the Norwegian tax authorities during this period of six years, says public prosecutor Marianne Bender in court. State Attorney Marianne Bender in court. Carew’s defenders sit in the front of the picture. Photo: Ole Berg-Rusten / NTB – I recognize that it has been grossly negligent to trust him so much, says Carew. – Without a doubt, I have been in Norway for too many days, but I have not focused on it and thought it was crucial. I have not kept a log of journeys, says Carew. Flod will not comment on the accusations, but says the following to news: – I was very clear when I understood that there would be a criminal case. I know that I am in a witness position and then the court will get it first hand. When I have given a witness statement, I can make a statement, says Flod to news. 300 million The prosecution believes that John Carew was never taxed on, among other things, NOK 8.2 million that he earned from a betting company. In addition, tens of millions are placed in tax havens such as the Isle of Man. According to the prosecution, he should have declared a total of NOK 307 million more in assets and NOK 12.8 million more in income, on his tax returns between 2014 and 2019. The prosecution has, however, deducted some of the tax paid in the UK. John Carew is still the betting company ComeOn’s external face, and is known through several commercials. Photo: Screenshot comeon Acknowledges partial guilt Carew does not dispute that he has failed to pay 5.4 million in taxes, which the indictment covers, but the 43-year-old claims he did not do this deliberately. The defender says in court that Carew admits gross negligence because he has acted in good faith on advice he has received. – He acknowledges that he has gotten into this position by acting grossly negligently. In that he has assumed that he had a tax residence in the UK (Great Britain, journ.anm), and that in any case according to the tax agreement he was resident in the UK. But he does not admit to having acted with intent, says defender Berit Reiss-Andersen. DEFENDERS: Berit Reiss-Andersen and Marthe Holm in the Oslo District Court. Photo: Ole Berg-Rusten / NTB Carew smiled at the press when he arrived in courtroom 828. He does not want to give comments or be photographed. Nine days have been set aside for the case in the Oslo District Court. “Surveillance” Among the evidence against the 43-year-old are several e-mails that have been seized by Økokrim. They are being read out in the district court. Per Arne Flod has been Carew’s adviser and friend for 25 years. He will testify in the case on Friday, but does not want to answer any accusations that come to light. 1999: Football player John Carew (back) and his agent Per A. Flod met the press before training at Valle Hovin, after negotiations with other clubs. Photo: Morten Holm / NTB The e-mails show, among other things, conversations between Flod and John Carew. As well as e-mails from Flod to the Norwegian tax authorities. An e-mail from October 2015 has been sent from Per Arne Flod to a case manager at the tax authority. Flod writes that he believes Carew is taxable to England. Furthermore, he writes: “I strongly disagree with them in that the provision you refer to in the Criminal Code authorizes such surveillance as they claim to have carried out of John’s movements. Getting access to account statements is something completely different from what they claim to have done.” Økokrim believes that Carew has been in Norway for more than half of the time, and should have taxed Norway. “Carew chose to trust Flod” In another email between Carew’s accountant and tax lawyer in 2021, it emerges that the lawyer believes Per Arne Flod “does not understand the seriousness of the matter” and that he warned three years earlier that it “is going to become difficult for John” when the tax authorities find out about his wealth and income abroad. “Carew chose to trust Flod, who obviously has no idea about tax law,” writes the lawyer in the email. Writes that Carew used the card 1,000 times in Norway It emerges in court that Flod wrote an e-mail to Carew in 2019. The subject is transcripts obtained by the tax authorities from 2014. Flod writes: “I cannot say that this is legal. But it matters little once they are there. As you can see, there are somewhere between 900 and 1,000 uses of your card in Norway in 2014, the vast majority on different golf courses. “Your explanation of less than 60 days could become a problem for you,” Flod wrote, referring to Carew’s having stated that he only stayed 60 days in Norway. Isle of Man and Luxembourg The public prosecutor shows a kind of Excel form in the court with an overview of all 365 days each year, where the prosecution has marked 259 days in 2015. Other years include 299 days, 282 days and 289 days. These are the days they think he is in Norway. – Carew was in Norway for more than 183 days, she says. If you are here for more than 183, you become liable for tax under Norwegian law, she explains. She says Norway is dependent on tax revenue and that it must therefore be a criminal offense to provide incorrect information to the tax authorities. – He kept his income and assets hidden from the Norwegian tax authorities. He hid this by, among other things, using several accounts in Luxembourg and the Isle of Man, says Bender. The Isle of Man is an island with good tax conditions in Great Britain. Photo: Richard Hoare / Wikimedia commons The items in the indictment come from several different jobs and assets and income from, among other things, renting out property. Among the employers are the TV channels TV 2, BSkyB and the betting company ComeOn. He states his occupation as a freelance actor, when asked by the judge. The judge reads out the extensive five-page indictment, which is divided according to the six years from 2014 to 2019. Carew answers yes to whether he is guilty of the items relating to negligence, but denies that he has deliberately tried to evade tax. He therefore answers “no” to questions about whether he is guilty of knowingly and willfully evading tax. – I would like to note that “no” is linked to the intention. If it had been the same sentence, the answer would have been yes, says defender Berit Reiss-Andersen when the judge reads out the record relating to intent. – Not evading tax knowingly and willfully In a press release after the indictment was brought out in April this year, Carew explained that he has done nothing wrong on purpose: – Of course I have not evaded tax knowingly and willfully, Carew said in the press release. 2010: John Carew in action for Aston Villa in the Premier League. Photo: OLLY GREENWOOD / AFP The tax evasion in the indictment began according to Økokrim in 2014, two years after he retired as a footballer at West Ham. He had then played in several European top leagues and won the league in Spain and France. The acting career also started this year. It was in June last year that it became known that Økokrim was investigating Carew after the Swedish Tax Agency reported him. Carew was reported for having given incorrect information in the tax return about his income and assets in Norway and abroad.
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– Hidden accounts on the Isle of Man – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
