It seems that there was a perfect storm- Sheriff who issued 22 warrants over Rangers liquidation was a company shareholder!
Sheriff Lindsay Wood, who issued 22 warrants for failed investigations into the liquidation of Rangers was a shareholder in the defunct club according to a report in The Times.
It seems that after more than a decade of success mainly through tax scams and disguised remuneration schemes fans of the club were desperate to look outside of Scotland to find others to blame for going into administration followed by the liquidation process beginning in 2012. Liquidation has still to be concluded with 276 creditors waiting on reports and a pennies in the pound pay off.
Various figures involved in the administration have been questioned before charges have been dropped without any real proof of wrong doing.
Dave Murray, who was majority shareholder in the club from 1988 to 2011 when he accepted a pound coin from Craig Whyte seems to have avoided all scrutiny for his role in the demise, downfall and death of what he described as the second most important institution in Scotland.
The Times reports:
A sheriff who granted more than 20 warrants during the failed police investigation into the takeover of Rangers FC has been accused of a “glaring judicial conflict of interest” after it emerged he was a shareholder in the club.
Last week The Times disclosed that Lindsay Wood is the subject of an official complaint relating to his close links to the Scottish champions.
Wood regularly attends Rangers matches and social events and was said to have a framed photograph of Ibrox in his chambers.
It has now come to light that he held shares in Rangers’ old parent company, which became worthless when the club went into administration in 2012. Records from 2008 confirm Wood owned 110 shares.
Following the collapse of Rangers, David Grier, David Whitehouse and Paul Clark, of the consultancy firm Duff & Phelps, were appointed to manage the club’s affairs.
All three were later arrested over allegations of fraud linked to the collapse and sale of Rangers. They were cleared of all charges but many of the club’s supporters believe they failed to do enough to prevent its demise.
The saga has already triggered a public inquiry and cost the taxpayer tens of millions of pounds in payments to individuals who were prosecuted maliciously.
Between 2013 and 2015 Wood signed off 22 warrants during the botched investigation. They included one which allowed officers to raid the London offices of Holman Fenwick Willan, the legal firm representing Duff & Phelps, which was later found to be unlawful and executed “without proper safeguards”.
It was requested by Detective Chief Inspector Jim Robertson, the senior investigating officer, who is said to have worn Rangers cufflinks while conducting interviews.
Russell Findlay, the Scottish Conservative spokesman on community safety, called on Lord Carloway, the lord justice general, to establish why Wood failed to recuse himself.
“This represents a glaring judicial conflict of interest in the Rangers malicious prosecution scandal,” he said. “It seems there was a perfect storm of a Rangers-supporting police officer, a Rangers-supporting sheriff and Crown Office prosecutors who pursued innocent men with reckless disregard for the evidence, leaving taxpayers with a bill for tens of millions of pounds and no one being held to account.
“A register of judicial recusals was introduced in Scotland seven years ago for circumstances such as these, and I would expect Lord Carloway to establish why there was no voluntary recusal by Sheriff Wood.”
Grier, who has lodged a complaint with the Judicial Office for Scotland, added: “Sheriff Wood’s connections to Rangers are overwhelming and it was entirely inappropriate for him to be involved.”
Ten years ago on Monday the club went into administration, suffered a 10 point loss then played their last ever game in May 2012 before joining Third Lanark, Airdrie and Gretna in the Scottish football mortuary.