Martin Bain says he never trusted Craig Whyte and tried to halt Ibrox sale

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OUSTED Rangers chief executive Martin Bain yesterday revealed he personally appealed to David Murray not to sell the club to Craig Whyte.

 

Bain broke his silence for the first time since the disastrous takeover after dropping his £900,000 legal action against the Ibrox club last week.

 

And, in an explosive Sunday Mail interview, he claims:

 

■He was forced out to allow Whyte to avoid paying £9million in VAT and PAYE.

 

■He learned of his dismissal while sitting beside Walter Smith and Ally McCoist on an official club trip to New York.

 

■He has no idea how Whyte persuaded Ticketus to do the deal allowing him to pay off Lloyds TSB and take over at Ibrox.

 

Bain, 45, also hit back at reports that he was deeply involved in the clubâ??s controversial tax arrangements involving offshore payments to players.

 

He said: â??The last few months have been very difficult. It has been very hard to remain silent but I want people to know the facts.

 

â??Iâ??ve dropped my legal action. Iâ??m disappointed I wonâ??t have my day in court with Craig Whyte to discuss what went on but the survival of Rangers is far more important.

 

â??I didnâ??t expect the two of us to work together but his treatment of me was poor.

 

â??It is now apparent why he acted the way he did.â?

 

Bain and Rangers finance director Donald McIntyre were suspended last May, just days after Whyteâ??s takeover was approved.

 

They were banned from carrying out their duties pending an internal investigation into â??irregularitiesâ?.

 

Bain launched a legal action, seeking £900,000 in damages after the club refused to honour his contract, and had £480,000 of the assets frozen pending a settlement.

 

On Wednesday he pledged to return that sum, minus legal expenses.

 

He said last night: â??Iâ??ve agreed to release money which is technically mine to Rangers to help the club. Iâ??ve put more money into Rangers over the last couple of days than Craig Whyte ever did.

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â??He accused me of â??irregularitiesâ?? and I was suspended but it was obvious there was no way back.

 

â??Donald McIntyre was also suspended as the finance director but itâ??s clear now why neither of us could continue in our roles.

 

â??Had we remained at the club then the deal Whyte had with Ticketus would have been known a lot sooner than it was.

 

â??I would also not have put up with the non-payment of VAT or PAYE â?? so it was inappropriate for him to have either of us remaining at Ibrox.â?

 

Whyte entered a deal with Ticketus which saw the firm give him £24.4million to finance his Ibrox takeover.

 

In return they owned the right to season ticket sales over the next three years.

 

In February Whyte tipped Rangers into administration when it emerged that he had not paid HM Revenue and Customs £9million in VAT and PAYE since he took over.

 

Bain, who was at Ibrox for 15 years, also revealed how he personally advised owner David Murray not to sell the club to Whyte after he failed to impress the clubâ??s board during an interview.

 

He said: â??I first met Whyte as part of an independent board. He was asked a number of questions in relation to his knowledge of Rangers and his plans for the club.

 

â??We were never satisfied that he answered those questions correctly.

 

â??We asked him business-like questions regarding the cashflow of the club and his ability to fund the club going forward.

 

â??That was the biggest stumbling block because we didnâ??t believe that his cashflow was a suitable one to run the club.

 

â??He had his own assumptions on how much was needed and the independent board had theirs. Our opinions were wildly different. David Murray knows that I was not in agreement that the club should be sold to Craig Whyte.

 

â??I had a responsibility to 26,000 minority shareholders and I needed to represent them.

 

â??The independent board made the same representation to Sir David and other people closely associated with the club were of a similar opinion.â?

 

Bain says he knew his days at the club were numbered after Whyte was told he was against the takeover.

 

But he said expected outgoing owner Murray or Whyte himself to tell him to his face that he was no longer wanted.

 

Instead the news of his suspension was broken to him while in the United States for a Rangersâ?? charity white-water rafting trip in Idaho.

 

He was sitting with current boss Ally McCoist and ex-manager Walter Smith in New York when told he was suspended during a conference call.

 

He added: â??I was very vocal about the sale of Rangers to Whyte.

 

â??I simply didnâ??t believe that he was the correct man to take the club forward and made my feelings known.

 

â??He would have known my feelings towards him and when he took over I expected he would want to bring in his own people.

 

â??But I was never told face-to-face that I was being suspended.

 

â??I would have thought either Sir David or Whyte would have had a personal discussion with me about my position and we couldâ??ve moved on but that never happened.

 

â??Instead Iâ??m told Iâ??m suspended and my contract isnâ??t being honoured.

 

â??I never had any personal feelings towards Craig Whyte, I just didnâ??t believe he had the wealth to fund the club.

 

â??But he managed to show proof of funds to David Murray and he was satisfied.

 

â??Iâ??ve no idea how he managed to secure the Ticketus deal and fully understand why fans will make their own assumptions.â?

 

Bain also hit back at a TV news report claiming he was involved in Rangersâ?? controversial tax arrangements and defended his £633,000 salary.

 

The report, on Fridayâ??s Channel 4 News, referred to documents in which he asked for a pay rise to be directed through the clubâ??s employee benefits trust â?? used to pay players through off-shore accounts and avoid tax.

 

But yesterday, he said: â??I feel I have to defend myself against the mud being slung in my direction.

 

â??The Employees Benefit Trust was set up by the Murray Group before my appointment to the board of directors.

 

â??I acted in strict accordance with the tax and legal instructions given by the Murray Group.

 

â??At Rangers we had no in-house legal and tax advice. This all came from the head office of Murray Group.â?

 

â??Someone once said to me you can get anyone to run a business but itâ??s better to get someone who can smell the *business. Thatâ??s what Rangers need.

 

â??I know some people were surprised about my salary but all I can say is I didnâ??t award it to myself. It was decided by the board of directors.

 

â??Rangers had success on the pitch, including reaching the UEFA Cup Final, had recorded the best financial year in the history of the club and the board wanted to keep me.â?

 

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/2012/04/01/rangers-in-crisis-martin-bain-says-he-never-trusted-craig-whyte-and-tried-to-halt-ibrox-sale-86908-23809079/