So you buy a business and then find that the entire structure and assets of company are subject to a police investigation, where it is alleged that the assets were criminal acquired. That’s a serious problem, but one which will take several years to manifest. Let’s call that Problem A.
Problem B is that you have also established that the business needs to raise cash. This is an acute problem which will manifest in a matter of months.
What’s the prognosis?
It could be 2018 before a verdict on Problem A, the criminal trial, is reached. If it’s not guilty, there are no consequences. If it’s guilty, the rightful owners of the criminally acquired assets can apply to the court to recover them. This doesn’t mean they will apply, but if they do, it’s highly likely that the court will make the award in favour of the rightful owners.
For our example, the rightful owners are creditors of a failed business, represented by a liquidator. It’s the liquidators job to get as much money for the creditors as possible, and in this instance, HMRC is the creditor with overwhelming influence.
There’s an added complexity. Although none of your directors are contaminated by the criminal investigation, there’s a concern that some of the accused are beneficiaries of shares in the company, or commercial contracts which the company has entered into. In short, the accused have left the stage, but they could still have a considerable financial interest in the success of the business, which may steel the resolve of the most influential creditor, HMRC. HMRC know such tactics well and would be reluctant to allow a convicted criminal to profit from their enterprises.
As far as Problem A is concerned, you have to allow the law to take its course and hope for a not guilty verdict. Should a guilty verdict transpire, you then have to hope to cut a deal with the liquidator (representing HMRC et al) to allow you to continue to retain title to the assets.
If the creditor was malleable, willing to come and go with you, this would be possible. Especially as the liquidator may have the opportunity of pursuing the professional indemnity (PI) insurance of some of the accused, who provided professional services relating to the transaction. Grab the PI money for the creditors and allow you, your shareholders, and the beneficiaries of your commercial contracts, to continue to benefit from ownership of the assets.
A great deal of uncertainty surrounds this, however. You would make it your business to get as close as possible to the liquidator. Make sure there’s no limit to the hospitality on offer, but ultimately, HMRC will decide how matters proceed. It may even be the case that PI money is pursued, and the assets are recovered and put on the market. There will, after all, be an eye-watering level of professional fees to cover.
Problem B is, as I said, more acute. Raising money for a business which is losing money and burning cash is difficult enough, but if there is a possibility the business has been built upon criminally acquired assets, the challenge is herculean.
The criminal trial may not conclude until 2018 (or later), and it could take a couple of years thereafter for the liquidator to petition the court for the assets and then dispose of them. In short, the assets could come back onto the market around 2020.
Problem B is for you to fund a trading deficit until 2018, then hibernate for a couple of years, and bid enough to buy the assets at auction in 2020.
In the short term all you can do is try to convince as many people as possible to become co-investors. Or put the money in yourself, of course (sorry, I know how you feel about that prospect). Then you could shower the liquidator with the kind of corporate hospitality illustrated in The Wolf of Wall St, and hope you’ve got enough credit with them to have them batting for you at the creditors’ meeting.
The prognosis? It’s not the fact that you are possibly trading with criminally acquired assets, or that your entire enterprise could be shut down with the drop of a sheriff’s gavel, that would worry me. There’s nothing you can do about that, so ignore it. The big worry is how raise the £25m to keep the lights on until you discover if you’re business’s founding fathers acted within the law.
Good luck with that.
This is an absolute minefield. No one is in control. Three years ago I suggested the best thing to do was to start from scratch at another location, this is the only way to proceed with certainty.
Share premises in Paisley, or Cowdenbeath or wherever will take you. Hope that you can carry some brand affinity (although clearly you’ll not be able to use any disputed IP, including brand names). Appoint reputable people to your board and get back to doing what you really want to do.
Behold to no one contaminated by the decades of misrule. Cut loose those who hold the onerous contracts. Allow the assets to come back onto the market in due course, knowing that by then you have all the customer goodwill you need to ensure there is no point in anyone bidding against you at auction.
The future will be nothing like the past, but at least you’ll have a future.
Celtic are the first UK club to react to the refugee crisis
“This is absolutely the right thing for us to do. Our club was formed by immigrants, many of whom had escaped the devastation of the great famine.” Tony Hamilton, Celtic FC Foundation CEO.
Proceeds from Sunday’s Jock Stein 30th Anniversary game will go to alleviating suffering of the refugees. The club will appoint a charity with expertise to ensure the assistance is productive.
I know we go on about the Foundation a lot, but it’s the most important part of our club, today and every day. Never let this change.
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THE EXILED TIM on 5TH SEPTEMBER 2015 12:31 PM
Macjay
And I replied to you.
The club could and should have challenged it, they decided for political reasons not to.
=========================================================================
Quote me chapter and verse.
Please.
Because I do hope you`re right.
NEGANON2 on 5TH SEPTEMBER 2015 12:30 PM
And td67 who so famously tried to out people like me as Huns, who believes he is the best Celtic supporter in the world cos he fawns over PL, is pretending that he doesn’t think that cost so,Rome has outed him and questioned his holier than thou credentials.
Tony hates the GB already. Hates his fellow Celtic supporters because we just want toe the party line.
– See more at: http://www.celticquicknews.co.uk/prognosis-for-trading-with-criminally-acquired-assets/comment-page-15/#comments
Awe naw, you back again with your silly spin, I’ve never outed anyone here as a Hun, you are what you are and only you know, the rest of your post, I don’t get, only your fixation like many here on PL, that old chestnut is getting boring.
The GB do provide atmosphere and support, but I wish they’d lose the drums and the megaphone.
Now if they weren’t there, who would provide the atmosphere? Erm, the Celtic fans. Like they did before the GB existed.
And if the atmosphere is dire, as it has been many times in the past, then it is merely a reflection of how the fans feel at that time. Of course, all seating stadiums don’t help.
Macjay, at 11.43, sorry for my late reply.
You are far better read than me so I don’t know the end to the saying you quoted.
The Green Brigade leaders are left leaning, which you won’t like.
I know one of the members and he is involved in left wing politics. That’s his choice as it is yours not to have a liking for leftist policies, going by previous posts you have made or for any splintergroups in our support.
There has been enough disagreement and acrimony on the site of late and this will be my last postto you on this subject.
I admit the Green Brigade are far from perfect but you have never as far as I’m aware given any credit to good things they have done .
They run an anti-racism football tournament each year , which unsurprisingly, gets no media attention what so ever despite them trying to fight a blight on our socirty.
We will end up going round in circles about this subject.
As I said i am attempting to offer balance to this subject which , when you have been criticised previously for your views, you say is needed.
Enjoy what’s left of your night in Australia.
ART OF WAR on 5TH SEPTEMBER 2015 12:09 PM
Those bad bhoys at the GB are urgently trying to raise cash to bring aid to those poor unfortunates stuck in camps in Calais.
===============================================
So.Basically.
Let`s all chip in to subsidise the French Govt.
Not to mention providing encouragement for people smugglers to continue their obnoxious trade in human misery.
BUT it will be high profile and will look good on the G.B. C.V.
Barely been on this past week
Any word from TCR or updates from coorslad or anyone else who knows him ?
Big-Cup-Winners
At the risk of being called a hun apologist again, I get a bit annoyed at the constant insinuation that our blog is infiltrated by them. I have never in my life had one good word to say about that mob. I just get a bit pissed off when people get labelled with that at a whim. Im sure youve been supporting us for a long time having read your posts down the years, what would your reaction be in everyday life to be called a hun? It’s getting a bit petty and I hope Ive put a line under it with TD. I think that mob have enough to be going on with without spending hours lurking on here for years
HH
As for charity I have no problem with any Celtic charity or ones that I give to personally obviously, so don’t be pulling that card, the first food drive I donated to ran by the GB I went up to the table and what do I get? A petition stuck in my face, do you want to sign the blah blah blah, now to me that’s not organising a charity drive, that high jacking one, and I said at the time and I stand by it, never will I have anything to do with any charity ran by the GB again, charity is for the needy, not the greedy.
Proudbhoy
Aye, good shout. Was thinking about TCR myself this morning.
Dallas Dallas where the heck is Dallas on 5th September 2015 12:38 pm –
You`re obviously a very decent and committed fellow Celtic supporter ,so apologies if I have come over unreasonably.
I hope you will understand this when I say that my genuine feeling is that the G.B. and their tutors are harmful to our Club. And have been for years.
I feel the need to speak up.
As do you for different reasons.
At the end of the day I know that we want the same thing but have different opinions about how to achieve that common goal
Hail Hail.
macjay1 for Neil Lennon on 5th September 2015 12:44 pm
Isn’t it time the country you dwell in should open its doors to the the unfortunate people looking for a new life?
Afterall, they did for you!
Tony
I think I disagree with you on most things apart from Jim telling the lurking Huns to gtf 8)
A wee extra “the” sneaked in there :)
What’s empathy for?
T
No Celtic game this week-end so on CQN Celtic supporters turn on each other whats that all about ? What has it got to do with another Celtic supporter which political party I support unless I want to share it surely that is my business ? Come on Bhoys sort it out we are all entitled to our opinions and we might not agree with each other but lets respect each other and stop bickering . H.H.
Dallas Dallas
Having to travel to games outwith Glasgow for last few years, do you know if PG is still running the Lions bus ?
HH
Tony I guess a few of us will remember your wee witch hunt. You were desperate to out Huns. You had your wee list.
That’s how it started with the nazis eh. Wee lists.
You are a fascist Tony.
BCW the main people causing division at CP are the board.
Afternoon all, apoligises for reposting….Flying out of Malta to Istanbul on the 9th Dec, looking for Hotel where fellow bhysi will be staying.. Safety in numbers and all that..Hail Hail.
Macjay1 in what way are they harmful to Celtic?
BLANTYRETIM IS PRAYING FOR THE KNOX FAMILY on 5TH SEPTEMBER 2015 12:54 PM
– See more at: http://www.celticquicknews.co.uk/prognosis-for-trading-with-criminally-acquired-assets/comment-page-15/#comment-2672135
Oh yes, that I know, we’ve been here before, I concur :)
Jamesgang and I went to Perth on the Lisbon lions bus from George sq at the end of last season
Great bus, great craic and great tims as we all are
Macjay,thank you .
I hope the Australian spring has started and you get less rain than we have had in the last four months. In saying that, its a lovely sunny and dry day here for once this year.
Perfect day to watch our team but unfortunately its international week.
TOBAGOSTREET
Apathy lol
HH
MACJAY
The first offence took place at the Rennes game. Our seats were right beside The Green Brigade back then.
Being home for the occasion,I took my Dad and my notoriously intolerant Uncle Jim to the game. Neither is fond of ‘modern’ rebel songs or chants,etc.
None of us heard a word which could have resulted in a charge,despite being closer to ‘the action’ than the officer who reported it. Believe me,it did not happen,otherwise The Growler would have been all over them like a rash.
And then,the judgement. It was a first offence,and The Exiled Tim is absolutely correct to say that a first-year Law student could have tabled a successful appeal. So too could I.
The decision was clearly made to hang The Green Brigade out to dry. It backfired,because our next breaches became serial.
The Green Brigade are not to blame here. The blame lies with whoever had the authority to not authorise an appeal.
And possibly to arrange the charge in the first place.
twentyfirstofmaynineteenseventynine
Aye, but I’m 100% sure that some do lurk and post *. CQN regularly has post which are Cut and Paste from Fallow Fallow, eh ?
And I think TD’s wee “GIRFUY”, has become his “signature”; in the same way that Kev Jungle has his “OFF OOT”; or Neganon2 acts like a wailing, repetitive Cassandra in every post….
All funny in their own way and have become features of CQN.
*I’ve had my doubts about that Roy Croppie for a while ? I reckon he’s playing a (really) long game and his real (Rangers) agenda will materialise.
SIPSINI on 5TH SEPTEMBER 2015 12:53 PM
macjay1 for Neil Lennon on 5th September 2015 12:44 pm
Isn’t it time the country you dwell in should open its doors to the the unfortunate people looking for a new life?
After all, they did for you!
=======================================================================================
Oh,good.A wee change of pace.
Per head of population,Australia accommodates more refugees than any other country in the world and in absolute terms is second or third.
Australia ,of course was a mile ahead of the game and provided refugee places for 4,400 from Syria one year ago,before it became a “cause celebre” with left wing trendies.
Yes we should do more and would have been able to if the people smuggling gangs hadn`t been on passport control during the 6 years of the Labour govt.
1,200 drowned.
As for me….unfortunate ?
No way ,pal I`m a Tim.
BANKIEBHOY1 on 5TH SEPTEMBER 2015 11:56 AM
…ahh, The oul’ Celiac Trust……
……………………………………………..glutens for punishment
——–
Sometimes I just sit shaking my head of the wit and eye for a gag you lot have. This was one such occasion!
HH jamesgang
There is a prog on the box this afternoon, channel 512 on Sky, it’s the RT channel, the prog is the Kaiser report, @ 3.30 brit time.
It’s an education, esp the second half, only 20 mins out of your life, it would educate the right wing fascists if they had an open mind, but as they are brainwashed by their supposed betters, they will just think it’s all lies, nothing could be further from the truth, in fact it is the truth.
Well worth the watch.
NEGANON2 on 5TH SEPTEMBER 2015 12:57 PM
Tony I guess a few of us will remember your wee witch hunt. You were desperate to out Huns. You had your wee list.
That’s how it started with the nazis eh. Wee lists.
You are a fascist Tony.
BCW the main people causing division at CP are the board.
– See more at: http://www.celticquicknews.co.uk/prognosis-for-trading-with-criminally-acquired-assets/comment-page-15/#comment-2672147
Hahahaha has, oh yes I remember that, I had told people that I had a list of Huns who where on this site, I kept it going for about a week I think, and negganon kept on about was he on it, was he on it, and told everyone who was on the blog that I would reveal all the names on Sunday morning at 6am, most new it was a wind up, but a certain guy was there at 6am that morning, saying where is he, where is he, there is no list, there is no list, he was right there was no list, it was a wind up, I was lying sparklers in my kip as is the norm for me on. Sun. Am, and to this day he still goes on about it, let me tell him ONE MORE TIME, it was a wind up, so tonight you can have a right good kip, but if there was a list, hmmmmmmmm………….
SIPSINI on 5TH SEPTEMBER 2015 12:53 PM
—
australia for Australians mate .. Their favourite line over here.
Met some of the nicest people in my life over here but the racism is very clear.
Shortest memories in the world.
Big Cup Winners
Fair enough mate, must admit to having a laugh at some of the cut & paste’s though. End of the day I think anyone lurking from their point of view would have well given up the ghost a few years back, theyve got their own problems. But I could be wrong
HH
JAMESGANG
Seriously disappointed that someone with your background finds puns on ill-health amusing. I thought you were better than that.
I’m prepared to let it pass as long as that lung you promised me is available when required.
Missed a sentence in that last post…….
twentyfirstofmaynineteenseventynine
Aye, but I’m 100% sure that some do lurk and post *. CQN regularly has post which are Cut and Paste from Fallow Fallow, eh ? I’m concluding that if we go there; the opposite will be true………they even have a name for our covert operators “timposters”.
And I think TD’s wee “GIRFUY”, has become his “signature”; in the same way that Kev Jungle has his “OFF OOT”; or Neganon2 acts like a wailing, repetitive Cassandra in every post….
All funny in their own way and have become features of CQN.
*I’ve had my doubts about that Roy Croppie for a while ? I reckon he’s playing a (really) long game and his real (Rangers) agenda will materialise.
– See more at: http://www.celticquicknews.co.uk/prognosis-for-trading-with-criminally-acquired-assets/comment-page-15/#comment-2672153
Dallas Dallas where the heck is Dallas on 5th September 2015 1:01 pm –
Cheers to you,my friend in Celtic.
Thoughts of Johnny Thompson.
Relatives of mine were at the game.
BCW
I can confirm that Roy Croppy is indeed a hunlurker and poster
I know his uncle who is a mason 8-)
BOBBY MURDOCH’S CURLED-UP WINKLEPICKERS on 5th September 2015 1:02 pm –
Bobby.
I could not make any comment about that.
What I was referring to was in reply to the question which was asked.
The 42,00 pound banner.
Do you remember Lenny`s face falling.
Well,I`m with Lenny.
Mate.They need to be controlled or guided.
Surely?
Blinking spellchecker again
He is a deacon. :-)
BT
MMMMMMMMMMMM how do you know he is a Mason ?
TD67 get that list out and add BT’s name to the “under scrutiny” sub-list.