Police Scotland step up investigations into Sevco deals
The twisted web of mystery owners is coming under increasing scrutiny with the claims of Craig Whyte and Charles Green unravelling as the new club heads inevitably towards administration.
Fifteen months after the mysterious five way agreement was pushed through the lack of governance by the SFA is coming to light. Last night it emerged that the Economic Crime unit of Police Scotland are stepping up their investigations into matters at Ibrox over the last two years.
Once Rangers went into liquidation Stewart Regan and Neil Doncaster launched a plan to ensure that a club from Ibrox was in the SPL but that was blown out the water by fan power on chairman with First Division clubs rejecting plan B to put the new club in at the top of the SFL.
Regan said: “Malcolm Murray, the former chairman, would have a better view than me about Blue Pitch and Margarita Holdings.
“What I can say is when the club applied to have the membership transferred, a long debate took place and concerns were expressed about Craig Whyte in particular.
“We have a legally-binding indemnity given to us by the consortium at the time that he was in no way involved in any capacity with Rangers. That was the key requirement.
“We are able to challenge the membership in the event Whyte is involved.”
With no names given about the beneficiaries behind BPH and Margarita Holdings it’s not inconceivable that Whyte or anyone else became involved the day after SFA membership was granted.
In another shambolic media performance former Sevco chairman Malcolm Murray further muddied the water only able to talk about an un-named Arab behind the two trusts.
Murray told Radio Scotland: “I’ve met their representatives several times, their lawyer, they are rich Arabs who do not like publicity in any form at all. So that’s who they are meant to be, they funded Charles Green to do this, they don’t want publicity that’s who we think it is.
“Of course in public company shares you never know who owns what, and whose transferred what and whose done side deals with who because we don’t know where Green’s shares are at the moment, we believe that the Easdale brothers have voting rights over them but we just don’t know where they are, there is a slight suspicion as to where they are.”
Most internet bampots following the case have been well aware of the links between Green and Whyte thanks mainly to documents released by Charlotte Fakes.
In the spring The Sun published interviews with Green where he admitted shafting Whyte over the transfer of assets from Sevco 5088 to Sevco Scotland with tapes revealing that money from Whyte was transferred into the bank account of the mother of Green’s Ibrox side-kick Imran Ahmad.
That prompted an internal club investigation by Pinsent Masons which predictably dismissed any link between the club and Whyte which the SFA were happy to go on and drop any investigation into Whyte’s involvement with the new club.
At the end of May the club issued a statement on the report which claimed: “Based on the assessment of the available evidence, the company considers that the investigation found no evidence that Craig Whyte had any involvement with Sevco Scotland Limited (now called The Rangers Football Club Limited), the company which ultimately acquired the business and assets of The Rangers Football Club PLC from its administrators,” said Rangers’ Stock Exchange statement.
“Nor which would suggest that Craig Whyte invested in The Rangers Football Club Limited or Rangers International Football Club plc, either directly or indirectly through any third party companies or vehicles.
“Pinsent Masons’ and Roy Martin’s reports to the company are confidential and legally privileged.
“This announcement is not intended to and does not serve to waive privilege in the contents of the reports which remain confidential and legally privileged.”
Neither Green or Whyte were interviewed by Pinsent Masons.
Last night Malcolm Murray revealed that he had been denied access to the Pinsent Masons report.
He told Radio Scotland: “On the Pinsent Masons investigation that was a pretty full blown enquiry and got narrowed and narrowed and narrowed. I have never seen the report which is one of the reasons that I’m not there now. I’ve never seen it let alone make it public. So we don’t know exactly what is in it, I can’t comment on the Pinsent report.”
Murray added: “I don’t think that there is any contractual relationship from Craig Whyte to Rangers whatsoever. Whether there are any side payments to Craig Whyte by individuals is nothing to do with Rangers and that is something that we may never know.”
Just as they did in 2011 when they wrongly granted Rangers a licence to play in European football while owing money to HMRC it looks like the SFA’s hands off approach is about to end up with another administration.
Having survived the licence issue and got away with the secretive five way agreement it would be no surprise of Regan, Campbell Ogilvie and their colleagues survive the administration and liquidation of Sevco blameless within the corridors of the Scottish football.
With Police Scotland stepping up their investigations it’s becoming more and more likely that shares in the club will be suspended by the AIM
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