Sevco suffered a crushing blow at the Court of Session in Edinburgh today when Lord Stewart found in favour of Imran Ahmad and ring fenced £620,000 from the club account.
Former commercial guru Ahmad brought in the lucrative sponsorship and merchandising deals that have kept the club afloat despite an unofficial fans boycott but was sacked by the club in April 2013.
Ahmad is taking the club to court for unfair dismissal and had twice before failed in attempts to protect the money over fears that the club was in danger of going into administration.
Last week’s Alternative Investment Market announcement that the club needed to raise £4m by September 11 in order to meet their commitments set off alarm bells among creditors forcing Ahmad, who snapped up penny shares in the club alongside Charles Green, Ally McCoist and Brian Stockbridge, back to court.
After a lengthy hearing today in which Alan Summers QC, representing Sevco, contradicted the warning that accompanied last Friday’s share offer, Lord Stewart ruled in Ahmad’s favour although an appeal from Sevco will be heard on Tuesday morning.
During the hearing it emerged that Sevco had just £1.2m in their Metro Bank account with today’s verdict meaning that the club has £580,000 available to meet running costs and the end of month payroll.
Among the statements given by Summers to court he claimed that the club was not verging on insolvency, that the club was at an advanced stage of negotiating with two potential investors and that the club had a plan to reach the promised land of’ ‘European football where the big money is’.
Those arguments were easily torn to pieces by Kenneth McBrearty, representing Ahmad, as he highlighted the reality of the club’s dire finances with Lord Stewart upholding the claim.
With well under £1m in the kitty creditors of the club are likely to become concerned which could accelerate administration ahead of the club’s next home match a League Cup tie at home to Premiership giants Inverness Caley Thistle.