Southend boss ‘fiddled £5m in VAT’

The chairman of Southend United FC appeared in court charged with failing to pay more than £5m in tax following two land deals. Ronald Martin, 68, and former chief executive Geoffrey King, 75, are accused of failing to pay £4,485,000 in VAT over the sale of land in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. The pair are also accused of failing to pay £921,260 of VAT in relation to the sale of land in Thundersley, Essex, to the same firm, Redrow Homes PLC. Martin,…