The post you are reporting:
Courtesy Guardian....................rvhised..................
Footballers accused of exploiting tax relief scheme
• £264m Newcastle data centres lie untenanted
• Hodgson, Rooney and Wenger all invested
England manager, Roy Hodgson, right, and Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney both invested
in Cobalt.
A £264m construction scheme whose investors include the England manager, Roy Hodgson, and other
celebrities does not have a single tenant signed up, more than two years after a controversial tax relief
deal was struck,
Margaret Hodge, chair of the Commons public accounts committee, said the lack of tenants for two
data centres on the Cobalt business estate near Newcastle fuelled the perception that the scheme
was aimed at tax avoidance. She said the enterprise zones that had enabled the tax relief should
have been about job creation, not exploited by "greedy individuals".
Hodgson, Arsenal's manager, Arsène Wenger, and the Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney
were among those who collectively invested to buy the buildings - The project's marketing brochure
promised a £1.66 "cash flow benefit"from £1 put in by investors.