Rangers owner Craig Whyte may have lied in court case

[ian1964 10,409]

BBC Scotland has uncovered evidence which suggests Rangers owner Craig Whyte may have lied in court.

 

During a civil case last year, he told Glasgow Sheriff Court his seven-year ban from being a company director did not relate to treatment of creditors.

 

But the judge who imposed the ban said company assets were "put out of the reach of the creditors".

 

The Rangers owner accused the BBC of a "witch-hunt" and said the matter would be dealt with robustly by his lawyers.

 

Details of Mr Whyte's seven-year disqualification, imposed in 2000, were revealed by a BBC Scotland investigation - Rangers: The Inside Story - which was broadcast in October.

 

The programme heard allegations that Mr Whyte controlled a company called Re-Tex Plastic Technology despite his ban, an offence which could incur a two-year jail term.

 

Re-tex Plastic Technology was later wound up in 2003.

 

Following the documentary, Mr Whyte denied all the claims "in the strongest possible terms" and said he would be launching legal action against the BBC.

 

The corporation has, as yet, not received a writ.

 

He also stated publicly that the ban related to a "technicality".

 

In a separate matter, the Rangers owner appeared in court in December to contest a case over an alleged unpaid £90,000 repair bill at his castle.

Continue reading the main story

â??Start Quote

 

In specific terms, Mr Whyte totally refutes the scurrilous allegation that he may have committed perjury in a court of law in December last year�

 

Craig Whyte's spokesman

 

Craig Whyte: Full statement

 

The 40-year-old, who was listed as owner of Tixway UK Ltd, was said to have ordered supplies from One Stop Roofing to repair the roof at his property in Grantown on Spey.

 

It was also claimed that Tixway failed to maintain a repayment plan agreed at the start of the 2010.

 

Evidence has been heard in the case and a written judgement is expected at a later date.

 

During evidence Mr Whyte was asked about his seven-year disqualification from being a company director.

 

In court, he said: "This is going back to matters some time. I don't have any recollection of what it was about just now."

 

He was then asked: "You can't remember why you were banned for seven years?"

 

Mr Whyte replied: "Well, I'm not going to say in open court and get it wrong."

 

The Rangers owner was then asked: "Was it anything to do with the treatment of creditors?"

Craig Whyte, arriving at Glasgow Sheriff Court Craig Whyte, seen here arriving at court, gave evidence last year

 

He replied: "No."

 

The BBC has obtained a transcript of the judgement which imposed the seven-year director disqualification on Mr Whyte.

 

The ban was handed down by registrar John Simmonds following a trial at the Royal Courts of Justice Companies Court in London on 13 June 2000.

 

The case relates to Mr Whyte's former company Vital UK, which collapsed owing creditors about £400,000.

 

Registrar Simmonds' ruling in the case appears to contradict the testimony Mr Whyte gave at Glasgow Sheriff Court in December 2011.

 

Registrar Simmonds ruled that "the assets of the company (Vital UK) were put out of the reach of the creditors on a somewhat dubious delayed basis".

 

The ruling continued: "Shortly after that Mr Whyte put the company into a members' liquidation disclosing promissory notes as an asset.

 

"This seems to me to be a self-seeking action with regard to the company. If this is too harsh, then the degree of recklessness shows Mr Whyte to be thoroughly unfit to be a director."

'Heard mitigation'

 

About a month before some of Vital UK's assets were shifted, another of Mr Whyte's companies, Pelcroft, allotted £600,000 worth of new shares - almost half of which went to an address in the Bahamas.

 

Once a liquidator had wound up Vital UK, it pursued Pelcroft and recovered about half of the money owed to the creditors of Vital UK.

 

Registrar Simmonds' ruling concluded: "I have heard mitigation from Mr Whyte's counsel that he is a young man and that some voluntary recompense has been made.

 

"There is nothing that I have heard that the self-seeking behaviour and deliberately placing of assets beyond the liquidators that would not make this a middle bracket case and I consider seven years the correct order and I so order."

'Scurrilous allegation'

 

BBC Scotland asked Mr Whyte for a response and pointed out that the charge for deliberately failing to tell the truth under oath was perjury.

 

A spokesman for Mr Whyte said: "These accusations, which are simply a variation on what the BBC already alleged in a documentary riddled with inaccuracies and falsehoods and broadcast last year, are defamatory and clearly form part of a concerted campaign by the BBC to embarrass Craig Whyte personally and to damage Rangers Football Club.

 

"In specific terms, Mr Whyte totally refutes the scurrilous allegation that he may have committed perjury in a court of law in December last year. The responses he gave to questions relating to matters that took place some 17 years ago were given truthfully and to the best of his recollection.

 

"In the BBC's documentary last year, the accusation was made that Mr Whyte could have been guilty of criminal activity. Yet, neither before nor since the broadcast, has there been any criminal investigation into any aspect of Mr Whyte's business dealings."

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-16912365

[ian1964 10,409]

CRAIG WHYTE has responded to claims made tonight by the BBC.

 

A spokesman for Craig Whyte said: "This is clearly a witch-hunt by the BBC.

 

"These accusations, which are simply a variation on what the BBC already alleged in a documentary riddled with inaccuracies and falsehoods and broadcast last year, are defamatory and clearly form part of a concerted campaign by the BBC to embarrass Craig Whyte personally and to damage Rangers Football Club.

 

"In specific terms, Mr Whyte totally refutes the scurrilous allegation that he may have committed perjury in a court of law in December last year. The responses he gave to questions relating to matters that took place some 17 years ago were given truthfully and to the best of his recollection.

 

"In relation to Re-Tex, Mr Whyte repeats that he was not a director of this company and did not at any time have financial control over the company. His only relationship with the company was either as an investor or as a lender.

 

"The further allegation that he was involved in share issue arrangements on behalf of Re-Tex is again both false and defamatory.

 

"In the BBC's documentary last year, the accusation was made that Mr Whyte could have been guilty of criminal activity. Yet, neither before nor since the broadcast, has there been any criminal investigation into any aspect of Mr Whyte's business dealings.

 

"This renewed attack by the BBC, as with matters that were aired by the BBC last year, are in the hands of Mr Whyte's lawyers and will be contested robustly."

 

"There has been no offer by the BBC to provide any documentary proof in support of their accusations.

 

"Mr Whyte is in no doubt that this latest attack is part of a concerted campaign to damage both him and Rangers FC and follows the decision by the club to withdraw co-operation with the corporation. This was as a result of the documentary broadcast last year which also made a series of false and defamatory claims."

 

http://www.tv.rangers.co.uk/articles/20120206/craig-whyte-statement_2254024_2602149

[Danny 0]

Don't get me wrong, i don't like whyte nor trust him, but this IS starting to look like a witch hunt against him by pacific quay.

[maineflyer 0]

Don't get me wrong, i don't like whyte nor trust him, but this IS starting to look like a witch hunt against him by pacific quay.

 

Only "starting"?

[Zappa 0]

The beeb's Business and economy editor for Scotland, Douglas Fraser is claiming in an article this evening that they now have evidence about his disqualification which Rangers fans won't like. Looks like protesting at Pacific Quay and Whyte withdrawing cooperation with Britain's state-run media powerhouse has worked bloody wonders!

 

Now, BBC Scotland's investigation team has evidence of the reasons for his disqualification.

 

Craig Whyte will seek to portray this as an attack on Rangers.

 

But to fans who have been following the implications of possible administration for the club, the chairman's past behaviour will do nothing to reassure them that his interests are aligned with those of the club.

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-business-16918085

[Zappa 0]

Shit, I didn't read the full article above.... oops!

[ascender 352]

They're trying to discredit Whyte as a businessman and call his character in to question.

 

It just so happens he's also the Chairman of Glasgow Rangers.

 

Its a perfect storm for the Scottish media.

[Zappa 0]

They're trying to discredit Whyte as a businessman and call his character in to question.

 

It just so happens he's also the Chairman of Glasgow Rangers.

 

Its a perfect storm for the Scottish media.

 

Totally agree, but the other way of looking at it is if they didn't have any ammunition, they wouldn't be able to pull the trigger. That's why I've said before that I wouldn't like Dave King to own the club. Too much baggage and murky business history that can be exploited by the media.

[ian1964 10,409]

Totally agree, but the other way of looking at it is if they didn't have any ammunition, they wouldn't be able to pull the trigger. That's why I've said before that I wouldn't like Dave King to own the club. Too much baggage and murky business history that can be exploited by the media.

 

Pity the mHedia don't investigate Dermot previous history with his business dealings?,or TLB on his dealings with known IRA members?,or even the sexual abuse that went on at C****c FC?, all well known facts as opposed to 'may have lied in court'?.

[bluebear54 0]

Pity the mHedia don't investigate Dermot previous history with his business dealings?,or TLB on his dealings with known IRA members?,or even the sexual abuse that went on at C****c FC?, all well known facts as opposed to 'may have lied in court'?.

 

Two wrongs never make a right Ian.

However, no matter what side of the fence you sit on with regards to CW, this is a witch hunt and media feeding frenzy of unprecedented proportion. I do note that the articles are peppered with words like "alleged", "claimed" and "was said to". That to me speaks volumes.

Surely the Beeb themselves must have some view on whether BBC Scotland's media assassination of Rangers is either within their remit or is in the wider interest of the Scottish game. For example, the commentary yesterday was a disgrace. Countless innuendoes about Rangers problems and the state they were in.

Most laughable about this is that it is spearheaded by football hacks whose legal, business and financial acumen wouldn't stretch to filling the back of a fag packet.