Lord Bannatyne has ordered Collyer Bristow to explain why their settlement with the liquidators of Rangers has to remain a secret.
The development came as Henderson & Jones attempt to get Craig Whyte his pay off following the collapse and death of the football club in 2012.
When Whyte handed a pound coin over to Dave Murray in May 2011 he took on the club debt but also a floating charge over Ibrox stadium and the state-of-the-art Murray Park training facility.
The former billionaire seemed to have all angles covered until Duff and Phelps sold those assets to Charles Green for £5.5m in June 2012 with the Yorkshire businessman going on to raise over £20m from a share issue based largely around the value of those assets.
Liquidators BDO were paid £24m by Colyer Bristow which formed the largest part of the creditors pot which has been whittled away by costs and expenses over the last six years.
Henderson & Jones have challenged BDO to be added to the list of creditors, a move that would put them ahead of HMRC and 266 other creditors.
According to a report in the London Times:
Yesterday Mr Fairley (QC Adam Fairley for Henderson & Jones who bought the legal claim from Whyte’s Rangers Group)urged the court to make an order to open the envelope. He said: “We know the settlement was for £24 million. But what we don’t know is what that £24 million was paid for.”
Roddy Dunlop, QC, for RFC 2012, said that his clients were content for the agreement to be made public. However, Collyer Bristow was not happy about it. Lord Bannatyne concluded that he could not make any ruling until he had heard legal submissions from Collyer Bristow.
The case will continue later this year.
Among the creditors to the football club are taxi firms, newsagents, florists and a face painter.
