Trending
Celtic News Now
Celtic Quick News on News Now
Celtic Quick News
You are at:»»Prognosis for trading with criminally acquired assets

Prognosis for trading with criminally acquired assets

1617
By on CQN BLOG & Comments

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.

Click Here for Comments >
Share.

About Author

1,617 Comments
  1. Pages:
  3. 1
  4. ...
  5. 36
  6. 37
  7. 38
  8. 39
  9. 40
  10. 41
  11. 42
  12. 43

  2. Turkeybhoy on

    Sevco are a good team!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.Playing against teams,the majority part timers,2-3 yards slower to the ball.

     

    Their best players ,a couple of loanees who will depart next year.A static defence.A midfield of Halliday,Holt ???????????.A couple of rejects .A Wigan reject,and Miller up front.All they are doing is what they should have been doing for the past 3 seasons,with the difference in players they have.I will wait until they come up against a real full time team,dont know if St Johnstone are the best test right enough after their gutless showing last year,but if anyone thinks this crap could compete with us,or Aberdeen,they are reading the SMSM too much.

  5. rudicantfail on

    Nelson Mandela was a great political leader…..

     

     

     

    Madiba was also a guy who didn’t think twice about slapping his first wife around…..

     

     

     

    Before we lionise people…..maybe we should ignore revisionism?

  7. jamesgang on

    Thelurkintim

     

     

    Very appropriate. Especially in these days.

     

     

    Here’s the song

     

     

    http://youtu.be/o3NJwyzFlTE

     

     

    I’d have a statue to the big man in the centre of town rather than Lord Whoever of Wherever.

     

     

    And remain George Square as Mandela Square!

     

     

    HH jamesgang

  8. THE EXILED TIM on

    Turkeybhoy

     

    I have NEVER blamed Pedro for the way the team plays, never.

     

    Neither have I advocated we sign 6 mill + players, never,

     

    What I have said consistantly is that the policy of signing prospects is the right way to go, but I have always said that it needs tweaked to allow a few older heads to compliment the kids-prospects.

     

    I have said that we will have to weigh in with decent wages for said old heads, but as the policy is so rigid, there is no chance of Pedro deviating from his policy.

     

    A policy that I may add is NOT delivering CL football, I firmly believe that if we did have a core of older players in the team, we would have made the CL group stages, they probably would have compensated for bringing in a new coach last season, and for sure this season.

     

    Now if you see a problem with that fine.

     

    Pedro imo, sees himself as a DoF as well as a CEO, I know this cos it is common knowledge within Celtic.

     

    I know he doesn’t go out personally and scout players, he has his lacky JP for that, and what JP says goes, the coach has very little input, he is told this is what you will be getting, he may get a choice between a couple of players, but he has no other input.

     

    Maybes if you actually read my posts properly next time, and then you can pick on someone else who thinks Pedro is a total waste of space, cos I certainly don’t, I just know he should be doing better by giving the support, you know the ones who are the club, the ones who actually pay his wages, a team that they can be proud of, a team that can qualify for the CL.

     

    It will never happen if he sticks to the policy he has embarked on, all that will happen is we will sell anyone who is worth anything, that is no way to build a team, that is a sure fire way to destroy a team.

     

    And another thing, when I crit the suits, I always give a solution, my version, but a solution non the less, unlike the Pedro groupies who can only resort to name calling and personal attacks on those who dare crit their master.

     

    Worse than huns imo, cos they know no better.

     

    HH

  11. jamesgang on

    Thelurkintim

     

     

    It’s not my land. It’s the middle of Glasgow.

     

    But as the choon says, this land is my land….this land is your land!

     

     

    Night Timdom

     

     

    HH jamesgang

  12. Auldheid on

    Chairbhoy on 6th September 2015 10:56 pm

     

     

     

    THELURKINTIM @ 10:33 PM,

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Good point, it only works if Clubs can look at what makes a healthy sustainable league. The old SPL run by the old firm could not be a template.

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Celtic will have to agree a structure that gives more Clubs a bigger slice of the pie.

     

     

    ======================

     

    Cue The Human Dilemma http://www.sfm.scot/redistribution-of-income/

  13. Neustadt-Braw on

    thank you BRTH…..a braw reminder…there will be no one on here that has not been affected by that terrible illness…and I hope our friend is well….I am sure he is …

     

     

    a braw song https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ea0mD2QSq1w and the words …

     

     

    I’ve got nothing on my mind,

     

    Nothing to remember,

     

    Nothing to forget.

     

    And I’ve got nothing to regret.

     

    But I’m all tied up on the inside,

     

    No one knows quite what I’ve got,

     

    And I know that on the outside

     

    What I used to be

     

    I’m not

     

    anymore.

     

     

    You know I’ve heard about people like me

     

    But I never made the connection.

     

    They walk one road to set them free

     

    And find they’ve gone the wrong direction.

     

    But there’s no need for turning back

     

    Cause all roads lead to where I stand;

     

    And I believe I’ll walk them all

     

    No matter what I may have planned.

     

     

    Can you remember who I was?

     

    Can you still feel it?

     

    Can you find my pain?

     

    Can you heal it?

     

     

    Then lay your hands upon me now

     

    And cast this darkness from my soul.

     

    You alone can light my way.

     

    You alone can make me whole

     

    Once again.

     

     

    We’ve walked both sides of every street

     

    Through all kinds of windy weather;

     

    But that was never our defeat

     

    As long as we could walk together.

     

    So there’s no need for turning back

     

    Cause all roads lead to where we stand;

     

    And I believe we’ll walk them all

     

    No matter what we may have planned.

     

     

    good night to you all

     

    and as ever regards to the boss …

     

     

    braw

  15. Clashcitybhoy on

    Here’s a wee exercise you may enjoy

     

    I sat down today & scribbled down what I thought was the best Celtic starting 11 of the last 7 years – basically since WGS left.

     

    Mine is a 4:5:1 , which could be a 433 or a 4132

     

    Some of you may agree with my team, others not, but bear with me

     

    Forster

     

    Lustig Big Vic VVD Izzy

     

    Forrest Ledley Brown Ki Aiden

     

    Hooper

     

     

    Look at 11 above , in virtually all cases , we chose to sell them , some may have wanted to go, but I suspect in many cases improved contracts at bottom end EPL wages (c £1.5 to £2m per annum). plus prospect of regular CL football would have swayed them .

     

    Do the same exercise yourself , then , look at the transfer fees we received and compare that to the fact we have only qualified for CL twice in last 7 years.

     

    In my 11, we sold them for around £55m, based upon quoted transfer fees.

     

    By contrast on average CL group stages are worth around £15m a season which over the five years we didn’t qualify is £75m

     

    You should try similar with your 11, and see the difference.

     

    Admittedly I haven’t included the extra cost of wages, but also, I haven’t included extra income from ongoing gates, sponsorship, shirt sales etc

  16. TheLurkinTim on

    Auldheid,

     

     

    don’t u think the FTSFA should have been using every and all methods at it’s disposal to make sure that Sevco2012 didn’t follow on from it’s predecessor? Isn’t the FTSFA guilty of failing to uphold any of the standards it purposes to uphold?

     

     

    H.H.

  21. Auldheid on

    TheLurkinTim on 7th September 2015 12:14 am

     

     

     

    Auldheid,

     

     

     

     

     

     

    don’t u think the FTSFA should have been using every and all methods at it’s disposal to make sure that Sevco2012 didn’t follow on from it’s predecessor? Isn’t the FTSFA guilty of failing to uphold any of the standards it purposes to uphold?

     

     

    =====================

     

    Totally unfit for purpose and change of culture required. Funny enough Keith Jackson of all people saying problems at SFA go deeper than not paying for plane to park in Georgia.

     

     

    Finally the penny is starting to drop. Here are my views from June 2011 and still valid. More so.

     

     

    http://celticunderground.net/sfa-reform-one-down-three-to-go/

  31. IniquitousIV on

    Guernica’s, LurkingTim, TurkeyBhoy:

     

     

    We will have a better chance of evaluating how far Sevco have advanced when they play St. Johnstone and we play Raith Rovers very soon. Tough to judge otherwise.

  32. Hunderbirds are Gone on

    I have only inhabited this wonderful space for 6 months or so.

     

     

    At first I was transfixed and enchanted with the wit, political angles, Celtic anecdotes, etc, and as finding this space coincided with me having to give up work, CQN filled the sudden surfeit of time that I had on my hands, and brightened my day.

     

    However from my perspective the landscape darkened somewhat, after the Malmo defeat. I have read posts from many regular contributors that seem almost vitriolic in their critisicm of my club. Everyone seems to offer a solution to our conundrum of how to qualify to an increasingly loaded ‘Champions League’, as if it was pretty straightforward, despite the obvious disadvantages of our Do estimated situation. Ffs, just look at our EL group – Ajax!!! What? 4 times European Champions. Fenerbace!!! – they have only spent how much? It is not easy to consistently fill the few available Champions League berths, once the gravy trough leagues have walked in to their pre-ordained slots. The answer? I am not sure, but have read countless nagging, moaning, simplistic ‘solutions’ to the problem.

     

    One Thing I do know is that anyone can perform any task, to a higher standard than normal, with love, encouragement and support. I love my club. Celtic is my club. Celtic was my Grandfathers club. I was proud that my daughter, at 14 years old, sorted herself with a season ticket, and made 300 mile round trips to see Celtic, her team, my team. She loved Celtic, she encouraged Celtic. She SUPPORTS Celtic, so do I. We love Celtic! I don’t know exactly why, but I have loved them for pushing on 50 fekin years. The Stickies are fecked. Malmo was a big disappointment, but we all love Celtic. And these are great times for all followers of our great club.

     

    Support the team you love. It can push them to great things. Love Celtic!!

     

    TooManyStellasButILoveCeltic CFC

  34. BOBBY MURDOCH'S CURLED-UP WINKLEPICKERS on

    HUNDERBIRDS ARE GONE

     

     

    Aye,mate. There’s a time and a place for criticism,and I’ve dished out plenty in my time. But we all love Celtic,and want the best possible.

  36. Hunderbirds are Gone on

    BMCUW

     

     

    I criticise as well. And I know it is often valid, and necessary, to promote positive change.

     

     

    I just feel that since Malmo, which was so close to being a positive outcome, the criticism is unnecessary and unhelpful, in the context of the remainder of this season, which could still be a good one.

     

     

    I cite the Centenary year, when we snatched victory from the jaws of defeat, on countless occasions at the fag end of the game, to take us to the double. That year a positive support psych, with a large support behind the team, definitely contributed to the teams positive performance.

     

     

    The opposite must also be true

     

     

    Hail Hail

  37. Hunderbirds are Gone on

    Hellooooooooo, hellooooooo. Did I break the blog?

     

     

    FirstNightMoonHowlingAndEveryoneIsAsleep CSC

  40. BOBBY MURDOCH'S CURLED-UP WINKLEPICKERS on

    HUNDERBIRDS ARE GONE

     

     

    The Centenary Season,wow.

     

     

    What an effort,as you say everyone pulled together and WILLED us to victory.

  41. gordybhoy64 on

    BMCUW,

     

    I am heading to Vegas in a few hours and am trying to beat jet lag by staying awake so that I can get a good sleep on the plane,

     

    I hear you were talking to Delaneys about a good sesh,

  1. Pages:
  3. 1
  4. ...
  5. 36
  6. 37
  7. 38
  8. 39
  9. 40
  10. 41
  11. 42
  12. 43