The Great Football Swindle
On the face of it, it’s just too crazy. Why would Craig Whyte become a director of Sevco 5088 Ltd, the vehicle his collaborator and Our New Hero, Charles Green, would use to buy the assets of Rangers from the administrators?
What options did he have?
He was, is, and for the foreseeable future, will be… the only show in town.
Whyte had controlling shares in Rangers and a security over Ibrox and other assets, as well as personal guarantees to Ticketus. If he wanted to realise the value of these assets, and protect himself from the consequences the Ticketus action which materialised this week, he was probably the only man at Ibrox last year you could guarantee would not, walk away.
Either Whyte had to find a 100% secure proxy to carry out his actions or he needed controlling interest in Sevco 5088, and Whyte is not a man who strikes me as having many strong trust bonds out there.
The Companies House form which STV produced (again, credit where it’s due) was always going to be fatal to Whyte’s plans, if produced, but it would have been no more than an insurance policy against Our New Hero going rogue.
The form hitting Companies House is not the moment you become a director in a company, that happens as soon as an offer is made and accepted. The company is obliged to inform Companies House within a short period (lazy journalism moment, I can’t be bothered looking it up), but failure to do so only incurs a small penalty fine.
Whyte and Earley were controlling directors and, in case Green reneged on their agreement, they would have documentary evidence to prove it. If Green had performed on demand, they may never have had to produce the document.
A number of possibilities could explain the fact that Green transferred the assets of Sevco 5088 to Sevco Scotland:
He thought that Whyte would be reluctant to incriminate himself further and would simple go away.
He thought he could transform the business and compensate Whyte with the proceeds.
He is simply not smart enough to know how these things operate.
Or he may have a subsequent agreement with Whyte terminating his involvement with Sevco 5088, although this contradicts his evidence to STV cameras earlier this week.
The weeks ahead are likely to be so busy it will be hard to retain focus on the critical path. Green has known for some days that he would have to go and replace himself with someone he can sell as a ‘true Rangers man’ to the most gullible people to walk on hind legs before season ticket renewal time, but even that date will seem a long way off.
Whyte will not budge until and unless his money is covered. We’re talking £18m to Ticketus and no doubt some more for his trouble. In playing the Sevco 5088 director registration form, his Doomsday Card, he has invalidated Newco’s associate membership of the SFA. He has called into question the fair and open disposal of assets by Duff and Phelps and the entire administration process. He even stayed quiet until Green flushed out a fair amount of supporter cash.
Some of the least trustworthy looking people in history, assisted by a supporting cast who were willing to bat away all concerns and warnings for a crumb or two from their table, have trashed every last inch of what we used to know as Rangers Football Club. This was not the act of Green, Whyte and Sir David Murray alone, many authors wrote this story.
On any measure of humanity, the monkeys, the organ grinders, the cheerleaders and their flunkies screwed the Rangers fan in the street to a ridiculous degree.
The next actions are for the stock market and some technically minded police officers as they try to figure out the Great Football Swindle.
At this side of the city we’ve been warning about exactly this link since Green told everyone Craig Whyte was happy to walk away for £2. It was astonishingly stupid for anyone to believe that. Really, really, really stupid. The most stupid thing a whole bunch of stupid people has ever done.
Ever.
Just stupid.
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