Newcastle United's celebration of its promotion back to the Premier League was cut short on Wednesday morning by a reported investigation into the club's transfer dealings.
Newcastle bounced back from relegation last season at the first attempt, with a 4-1 win at St James' Park against Preston North End ensuring it will play top-flight football next season along with Brighton and Hove Albion.
But Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (H.M.R.C.) announced on Wednesday it was conducting an investigation into "several men working within professional football industry for suspected income tax & national insurance fraud," as reported by The Independent.
The Times reported that Lee Charnley, Newcastle's managing director, had been arrested as part of the investigation. The other club involved is West Ham United, according to Sky Sports News. H.M.R.C. said 180 officers had been deployed "across the U.K. and France" as part of a major investigation into suspected Income Tax and National Insurance fraud.
Breaking: HM Customs + Revenue arrest "several men" in connection with income tax and NI fraud in professional football. pic.twitter.com/5awhZKIwCn
— Richard Conway (@richard_conway) April 26, 2017
Newcastle is set to release a statement, after police raids on St James' Park and London Stadium, the home of West Ham, as part of the investigation.
Newsweek has contacted Newcastle and West Ham for a response.
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