Charles Green will have to fund his own defence in the upcoming Rangers Fraud Case.
The businessman from Yorkshire faces a number of criminal charges relating to the asset transfer in 2012 from Rangers (IL) to Sevco 5088 and onto Sevco Scotland.
Among the many issues due to be heard in court will be the way in which Ibrox Stadium and the state-of-art Murray Park training complex were sold for just £5.5m.
Having secured those assets at a knockdown price Mr Green with the backing of Ally McCoist and Walter Smith then raised £21m from a share issue in which fans and new investors paid 70p per share. Founding fathers Green and McCoist paid 1p for their shares alongside Mike Ashley.
Should the charges go against Green, with the asset sale, and share issue, found to be fraudulent it’s expected that ownership of Ibrox and Murray Park will revert to BDO who are liquidating Rangers Football Club.
Mr Green had expected his legal fees to be met by the club that he founded in 2012 but after a Court of Session appeal for legal costs was rejected he’ll be forced to defend himself out of his own pocket.
Despite the ‘crown jewels’ of Ibrox and Murray Park now under threat the current chairman believes that today’s verdict is good news for the club!
In a statement on the club website South African based criminal Dave King said: “I am delighted by this decision. When the new board was installed last year we made a commitment that we would protect Rangers interests at all times and hold those who damaged our Club to account.
“This was already evidenced by our success in dealing with the frivolous litigation launched by Sports Direct against the Club and myself – including punitive cost awards in our favour.’
Mr King added: ‘We are unsurprised but delighted that this latest court success brings to an end the unjustifiable claims by Charles Green.
“He is now totally responsible for the cost of defending himself in the criminal case brought against him for his dealings with the Club. Furthermore, we will vigorously pursue Charles Green for recovery of the legal costs that we incurred including the £50,000 lodged with the Court as a caution.’”
A claim by The Rangers Group, once owned by Craig Whyte, over Ibrox and Murray Park will be heard after the conclusion of the fraud case.