After many years of speculation and debate, former Rangers owner, Craig Whyte, and founding father of newco Rangers, Charles Green, have been detained by police and are due to appear in court connected to the “alleged fraudulent acquisition” of Rangers assets, which were sold after the club failed to prevent a liquidator being appointed.
Joint administrators for Rangers, Paul Clark and David Whitehouse, then employed by Duff and Phelps, have also been detained in connection with the case.
Let’s get the rules clear from the off:
Anyone charged with a crime is entitled to a fair trial. They should not be subject to public comment which is likely to prejudice their ability to receive a fair trial. Don’t let anything of this nature appear on CQN.
You can discuss the issue, and you can discuss consequences of similar-sounding hypothetical cases, but unless you are cited to as a juror, don’t try to convict anyone.
The events surrounding Rangers liquidation and the subsequent asset purchase took place over three years ago. That this case has now found such momentum suggests the police are following a strong lien of enquiry, and have overcome whatever inertia which can sometimes affect white-collar crime.
We don’t know what is alleged fraudulently took place. The role of the administrators to carry out their duties on behalf of creditors is clearly established. That said, plenty of lateral is afforded to administrators (although increasing payroll by trying to sign Daniel Cousin raised eyebrows).
Exactly how Sevco Scotland Ltd (now The Rangers Football Club Ltd) were able to buy Rangers assets (for £5.5m) when the company who successfully bid for the assets was Sevco 5088 Ltd, has remained an open question since Craig Whyte claimed a controlling interest in Sevco 5088 Ltd.
Whatever the nature of the police charges, there is one overarching fact which Scottish football should be alert to.
Any company, football club or otherwise, which relies on assets that were criminally acquired to go about its business cannot continue to operate with those assets.
In this instance, the stadium, training ground, intellectual property, balls, nets and goalposts were all acquired by the company now known as The Rangers Football Club Ltd.
The consequences of this one are so massive several well-informed people suspected it would never get this far. But the day has come.
Even if all charges are dropped or allegations found to be false, there will still be immediate and real consequences. How would you, for example, go about raising money for a company with this hanging over it? Newco needs money, and they need to convince investors that the club did not start by criminally acquiring its football stadium.
Good luck with that.
I see in some places a fallacy persists that the SFA found Craig Whyte fit and proper to be a director of a football club. They did no such thing. The responsibility for ensuring Whyte’s fitness in 2011 lay with the Rangers board of directors, including Dave King and Paul Murray. The SFA have no powers to intercede or prevent a club from appointing any director it chooses.
Earlier this year Dave King took the unusual step of asking for prior-clearance that his appointment would not be found contrary to SFA rules (presumably due to his criminal convictions), before being appointed a director, but this was at King’s discretion. There is no SFA Fit and Proper test, the SFA do not clear or otherwise sanction any club director prior to appointment, this is the job of the club itself. Dave King, Paul Murray but most of all, Sir David Murray, take a bow.
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Hi Paul
very concerned with the malware that is being opened in a new tab when i click on the next CQN page, had to close the PC twice as this page seems to lock the browser down while stating a voice message and advising me to call a toll free number. not good
Kittoch
Gideon’s 500 million to upgrade the Nuke Base on the Clyde would be better spent on infrastructure and housing that could accommodate some of these poor souls ..
It’s the mass destruction in these countries that the red/blue Tory governments helped create that’s caused this crisis ..
Gotta build ole uncle Sam’s WMD’s though .. After all .. Gotta ask the yanks permission to use the fecking disgusting immoral things.
After years of trying are the establishment finally going to give Rangers the helping hand that they need?
White and Green involved in organised crime! Will the onerous contracts be null and void because there was criminal activity going on at Rangers? Giving the fraudster King the free reign he needs?
Why where they paraded outside the sheriff court in front of the baying mob, it took at least 10 police officers to get them to the car. It made for exciting TV but when Harry Clark(bin lorry crash) left the same court he was driven out from the underground car park, was the spectacle put on for some reason?
When White said he had recorded all the shady meetings he had had special Branch raided his house, why?
Something smells (apart from the usual Pong) down at Ibrox.
KITTOCH
Disabling JavaScript has worked wonders on my devices,though I have to switch it back on for other sites,work mails,etc.
Grateful thanks to TWISTSNTURNS for that info…
CELTICROLLERCOASTER SUPPORTING SHAY,OUR BHOY WONDER ALONG THE WAY on 3RD SEPTEMBER 2015 7:39 AM
Mr Pastry
Was Guidetti not a similar mix up?
Your last comments are appropriate re looking across the city for many reasons. However, there must be a sense of balance in what we spend and how we spend. Doing just enough to be ahead domestically in light of the competition appears now to be level of our ambition.
—————————————————————————————————————————–
Cheers for coming back – we did sort out the Guidetti ‘blip’ and so no damage was done.
I agree with you that we must have “a sense of balance” when we are looking to bring in players – as our aspirations are not solely domestic, and we still consider ourselves a CL club.
However, and I’m sure this will be covered by Peter Lawwell at the next General Meeting, with the football world going haywire, and almost ONE BILLION being spent in England during the latest transfer window, it is increasingly difficult to entice players, and/or their agents, to see Scotland as viable place of work.
Of course we could afford to sign a player for the magic figure of £6 million and maybe pip the likes of Leicester, Watford and other middle to lower EPL teams, however where we can’t compete is on the wages front.
This kind of player would demand EPL wages, anything between £40k to £70k per week – over a four year period, this could amount to around £11million – so in essence one player could cost us £17 million, with no guarantee that he would make any real difference to our squad.
Peter and the board are being realistic and so are the vast majority of fans – only the usual suspects, who would still moan if we won the CL, continue to be malcontent.
Finally – we were in good positions over the past two years in the play-off round of the CL – we should have beaten Maribor at home last year, and were it not for shoddiness in both games, Malmo should have been dispatched. We should also have won the treble last year.
All of these failings are due to football matters in general, and, the performance of players on the field, in particular – no matter what anyone’s view of our administrators, they were sitting watching as it all ‘dribbled’ away, just like the rest of us, and like the rest of us, expecting a win.
The fall out from the latest transfer window seems far from petering out, with both ends of the spectrum not giving up any ground, happy clapper vs bedwetters, im a better fan than you are, my grammar is way better than yours (irony) etc…….
Maybe im wrong (it has been known) but PL is there to enforce DD’s will, first and foremost, the football club and the supporters are of secondary importance.
GOTELLTHESPARTIM
Why then is he enforcing the will of someone with 37% of the club?
37% is enough to get you a majority in The House of Commons,but not in a boardroom.
Mountblow tim
Hope your good lady gets home soon, fit and well!
Wee prayer said for you all.
Lionroars 67
Just signed the petition .
What I wrote about the fireproof boxes was not meant to be funny , you know the way it works in Scoddland , you get too close to the inner sanctum of the peepil and suddenly strange things start to happen , Big Nan I think it was wrote a piece on here regarding taking on the establishment in this place .
HH
Ellbhoy
It boils down to we do not sign players of a tried and tested CL quality because those players like that cost £10m and get paid more than we can offer. If that were not so we would keep those players that left with those fees for wages we could not match.
So we sign players to develop and that is how it is.
I accept that and I accept the risks in it. That is where we differ really.
As regards RD you might be right but you are no more qualified to judge than I am.
One defeat does not make him a bad manager whether he has an eye for a player will be born out over a season.
Last season bar a bad referee decision he would have swept the domestic board so whilst some decisions will go wrong over the piece I’d say he got more right.
I’m hoping he gets the same proof this season for he is going into it as last with an unsettled defense that did come good.
Kevjungle, Fourgreenfields and Mighty Tim
Thanks for your posts re the wee one!
Her wound is still a bit tender and a certain ladies garment is a bit uncomfortable for her to wear, so she is still off school. (She’ll kill me if she reads this!)
The “stitches” have not dropped off either but that should happen any day now.
Back at the hospital for a final check on Tuesday and hopefully confirmation that the lump is fully benign. (Please God)
Actually as the school has provided her with loads of homework she will be glad to get back to school for a rest!
She has shown remarkeable maturity for her age and Christine and I are so proud to be her Mum and Dad.
Many thanks once again to everyone for their good wishes.
And Kevj prayer said for you and yours everyday. Get well soon.
MR PASTRY
Fair enough points,by and large,but your comment about EPL wages is not quite accurate.
‘This kind of player would demand EPL wages, anything between £40k to £70k per week’ is perhaps perceived wisdom,but I’ve just read an article about Berahino-?-of WBA,who is on £20k per week.
The average wage in the EPL is,I believe,c£40k per week. A lot of high-rollers at the big clubs means that the norm elsewhere is considerably lower.
Phil
Olivia remains in our thoughts and prayers
Ernie,
You dealt with that lizard comment well. Bizarre/disturbing comment.
The situation is tragic but we can’t, as a country, unconditionally take hundreds of thousands of war torn people who can’t speak English and integrate them into our country at once. I wish that we could though.
One wonders what countries such as Poland are doing? Germany is taking 800, 000 new people in a year. Bonkers.
In the cold light of day, I can see why we have to operate as we do given our lack of financial muscle. I do worry that with loan signings and a situation where players who are any good are flipped for a profit, supporters will struggle to identify with the team on the park. Even if it’s just an illusion , we cling to the belief that those wearing the shirt care about it too!
A general thought on RD.
We say we want open attractive football and I think under RD we have had that by and large.
Had we converted chances better ( hence wanting a goal scorer) then our defensive failings because of the openers get focused on.
So are we really saying that whilst we want open attractive play we also want tight defensive play or is that just for Europe and is it possible to switch from one approach to another from game to game with same team.
In short do we need a Neil Lennon approach rather than the RD one?
Just asking. :)
Openers?
I meant chances. Brain fart.
BMCUW
In theory 37% does not give you control of Boardroom but de facto it does. Look at Shareholder breakdown and try and organise a coup to bring down Desmond.
rOrdinary Shares of 1p each
Line Nominees Limited 32,772,073 35.31%
The Bank of New York (Nominees) Limited 12,155,274 13.10%
Christopher D Trainer 9,796,784 10.55%
James Mark Keane 5,909,847 6.37%
Pershing International Nominees Limited 4,476,390 4.82%
Tom Allison 3,357,505 3.62%
Finsbury Growth & Income Trust PLC 2,843,734 3.06%
Convertible Cumulative Preference Shares of 60p each
Line Nominees Limited 5,131,300 31.78%
Christopher D Trainer 2,218,813 13.74%
James Mark Keane 691,700 4.28%
Bank of New York Nominees Limited 606,385 3.76%
Convertible Preferred Ordinary Shares of 100p each
Line Nominees Limited 8,000,000 60.68%
Telsar Holdings SA Depfyffer and Associes 1,600,000 12.14%
Hanom 1 Limited 625,000 4.74%
Bank of New York Nominees Limited 500,900 3.80%
BT
I know that my friend and we are all so grateful!
An’ tell yer Da’ am gonny kill I’m.
Unless he signs my copy!!
Lionsroar67 et al , petitions signed . Thanks for raising profiles
I heard the tail end of an interview with this guy
http://www.jeromechampagne2015.com/ on Talksport yesterday around 12.50.
Unfortunately there is no podcast to catch up but what he says at the link is what bedevils European football never mind Scottish and Celtic.
He was talking yesterday that football reflects society at large with the gap between the rich who are now super rich and the rest including the middle class becoming wider.
He mentioned Ajax as a now middle class European club and I think Celtic are in that category.
Now I don’t know what his current position is but it’s his kind of thinking that needs to take hold in society and football.
Celtic should be forming alliances with those middle class clubs to force change which Jerome thinks means the EPL.
It’s a pity the interview is not available for he made lots of sense.
Does Jerome Champagne mean Jeremy Corbyn in French?
AND SOME WERE WONDERING WHY THE CELTIC BOARD WERE KEEPING QUIET FOR THE PAST 3 YEARS …..VERY ASTUTE BOARD ….. AND JUST KEEP LOOKING AFTER OUR FINANCES, PETER …….YOU’RE DOING A GRAND (old) JOB ……. IGNORE ALL THE SHOITE FROM THE NEGATONIANS ….!!!!!!!!
CORKCELT
Seems preferred shares means just that. Oh well. Another absentee landlord,they always look after those in their fiefdom.
Mucky Dee
Dave King is a criminal too remember. I used the word “untrustworthy” about RFC that is as applicable to TRFC.
“Criminal” would be a justifiable substitute.
Auldheid,
Stan Collymore is an influential English voice. He understands Celtic’s great history as well as footballtradition.
67Heaven .. CHALLENGING THE LIE ..I am wee Oscar…… Ipox belongs to the creditors on 3rd September 2015
D’ye mind using lower case. There’s folk tryin tae sleep on here. :))
ARD MACHA
If you’re looking in,I’ve sent you a couple mails re tickets for Amsterdam.
Grateful thanks to DESERTBHOY for the tip-off.
Duty calls,play nice.
Been reading and listening for 3 years about Sevco reincarnation going same way as that old club of sectarian bigots. I don’t believe now that that will ever happen. It is more a want than a reality. I expect to be playing the reinvented newco Sevco, with it’s horde of sectarian bigots who moved their support from dead entity to it, in the SPFL Premiership next season. I believe Dermot dreams about it.
MWD said AYE and no longer holds his breath in hope.
Auldheid
When are you back in Spain , I have just moved out and if we are close enough would love to hook up for a blether and refreshment . I am back to work from 14th Sep to 15th Oct .
HH
Tom Rogic in the Oz. starting line-up V Bangladesh.
About to K.O.
The most stupid thing I have heard recently, is the idea that Europe need to resettle hundreds of thousands of refugees.
For an absolute fraction of the cost, why not get stuck into the terrorists and Islamic Madmen who are forcing these people to flee. Wipe these clowns off the face of the earth and these people who need no reason to flee from beheading, rape and pillage.
BRISBANE 67 on 3rd September 2015 11:59 am
Er you realise that many Syrians are fleeing from assault by their own government don’t you? Are you advocating forced regime change at the hands of the West? Do you also understand the cost of going to war? Do you also understand that the outcome of said war is going to be millions of refugees fleeing the conflict? So we’d be in effect paying twice.
What do you mean by stuck in? Bombing their locations? They’re locations are the towns and villages ordinary people live in. Where will they go while we’re destroying their homes to help them?
These are people fleeing for their lives. We help them.
weeminger
You don’t need to read into my words. They are as plain as day. Destroy the Caliphate, by military means.
Too many bleeding heart liberals these days: wishy washy wet rags, who cause more deaths by their stupidity.
new article posted.
Sitting in Kelvingrove park for lunch and I get over run by loads of kids speaking in a foreign tongue and then realised I speak in a foreign tongue because they are from the Gaelic school across the road.
Brisbane67
You hold achildlike understanding of the conflicts of th emiddle east that are causing the current refugee crisis from countries such as Libya, Syria etc. I do believe you need to widen your horizon’s beyond your lego play set.
MWD said AYE
P)lease God, Brisbane doesn’t kick off a debate. It’s dangerous here when Celtic go 2 weeks without a game.
KevJ keep telling it like it is.
When I try to point out the same things….the clappers all gang up on me.
And to make it ten times worse, they canny count to save themselves…..I think they call it creative accounting:)
Nae wonder Celtic are skint….they think 2+2=5.
HH