BlueMazza 0 Posted October 25, 2012 Share Posted October 25, 2012 Heard this on BBC this morning: BBC Scotland has uncovered new evidence showing Rangers administrators Duff and Phelps knew Craig Whyte had sold season tickets to buy the club. The recording of a conversation indicates they were intent on denying it because they thought they could get away with it. A Duff and Phelps spokesman said the words were taken "out of context". The BBC reported Duff and Phelps partner David Grier may have known about the Ticketus deal last April. This was before Mr Whyte's takeover. Mr Grier denied any knowledge of the deal until August 2011. The BBC has obtained a recording of a meeting between Mr Whyte and Mr Grier, which show Duff and Phelps did know. Mr Whyte bought Rangers from Sir David Murray for £1 and paid an £18m debt to Lloyds Bank by selling three years of season tickets to finance firm Ticketus for £25m. As well as being involved in Mr Whyte's takeover, Duff and Phelps were appointed as Rangers' administrators after the club plunged into insolvency in February 2012. In May, a BBC Scotland investigation suggested that Mr Grier may have known that about the controversial Ticketus deal before the Whyte takeover was complete. Mr Grier, and Duff and Phelps, denied the claims and said he was unaware of this particular Ticketus deal until August 2011. Last week, in a BBC interview, Mr Whyte said that "everybody who was involved in the deal team at the time knew about" the Ticketus deal. He added: "They (Duff and Phelps) knew everything, they attended meetings, they were copied into all the emails, they were there on the day of completion. They knew from the start." BBC Scotland has now received a secret recording that Mr Whyte says he made at a meeting between him and Mr Grier in a private members' club in London on 31 May, after its investigation was broadcast. The recording, which is to be used in a forthcoming court case involving Duff and Phelps and Mr Whyte's former lawyers Collyer Bristow, has been obtained legitimately by BBC Scotland. During the exchange Mr Grier and Mr Whyte discuss Ticketus and Saffreys, one of the companies of lawyers involved in the transaction. Saffreys were acting for Mr Whyte with responsibility for dealing with Ticketus. Mr Grier said: "I'll tell you what we're doing with that just so you�" Mr Whyte: "Yeah." Mr Grier: "We, we went to see counsel yesterday and had a full sort of debrief of all the email correspondence." Mr Whyte: "Yep." Mr Grier: "Now, the fact is that we probably did know what was going on with Ticketus. There's no email traffic whatsoever." Mr Whyte: "That says that you did?" Mr Grier: "That says that we did." Mr Whyte: "But we all know that you did and f****** hell." Mr Grier: "Yeah, yeah. There's no�we were not involved in dealing with Ticketus directly." Mr Whyte: "Yeah. So you knew the structures of the deal. You were dealing with Lloyds." Mr Grier: "Absolutely." Mr Whyte: "And the Ticketus part was Saffreys." Mr Grier "Yeah. So we've maintained that line quite rigorously." BBC Scotland has been able to confirm with a voice recognition expert that the recording is of Mr Grier. Duff and Phelps spokesman Marty Dauer said: "As we have previously stated, Duff and Phelps maintains that our conduct of the Rangers administration was carried out to the highest professional standards. "We do not respond to information that is taken out of context, as we believe is the case in the BBC story. "We welcome the opportunity to review a complete copy of the information that the BBC references in its story." http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-20074388 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stewarty 1,878 Posted October 25, 2012 Share Posted October 25, 2012 Craig Whyte seems to be saying: if I'm going down, you lot are coming with me. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gisabeer 409 Posted October 25, 2012 Share Posted October 25, 2012 Its illegal to record anything without the other persons consent. Won't stand up in court. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stewarty 1,878 Posted October 25, 2012 Share Posted October 25, 2012 Its illegal to record anything without the other persons consent. Won't stand up in court. I'm sure there can be exceptons made. This kind of thing is hard to ignore. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stewarty 1,878 Posted October 25, 2012 Share Posted October 25, 2012 As is the BBC way, we are being drip fed more tonight. Rangers administrators tried to persuade the club's former owner Craig Whyte to lie about their knowledge of the Ticketus deal which was used to buy the club, the BBC can reveal. Duff & Phelps asked Mr Whyte to lie because they were afraid HMRC would remove them as administrators over a potential conflict of interest. The revelations are contained in a recorded conversation between the firm's David Grier and Craig Whyte. Duff & Phelps has not yet commented. The Ticketus deal - which saw three years of Rangers season tickets sold to London finance firm Ticketus for £25m - was uncovered eight months after the Motherwell-born businessman bought the Glasgow club. Mr Whyte used the money to pay off Rangers' £18m debt to Lloyds Banking Group. The revelation caused anger among Rangers fans, who accused Mr Whyte of lying about how he funded his purchase last May. In February 2012, when Rangers went into administration and Duff & Phelps took over, the firm confirmed the existence of the Ticketus deal, saying it was "a matter which we are looking at and trying to understand". As well as being appointed administrators after the club plunged into insolvency, Duff & Phelps were also involved in Craig Whyte's takeover. And a BBC Scotland investigation broadcast in May suggested that Mr Grier, a senior Duff & Phelps partner, may have known about the controversial Ticketus deal before the Whyte takeover was complete. Mr Whyte's conversation was recorded a week after the BBC aired claims about Duff & Phelps and Ticketus Mr Grier, and Duff & Phelps, denied the claims and said he was unaware of this particular Ticketus deal until August 2011. The recorded meeting between Mr Whyte and Mr Grier was held a week after the BBC documentary was aired. It revealed that Mr Grier not only knew that Mr Whyte had sold season tickets to fund the club's acquisition, but that they were intent on denying this because they thought they could get away with it. It also showed an attempt was made by Mr Grier to get Mr Whyte to agree to the publication of a press release which would vindicate the firm of any knowledge about the Ticketus deal used to buy the club. Mr Grier said: "We knew that Ticketus was a funder but we did not know that Ticketus would be used for acquisition funding and that is our line. "So any assistance you can give with that would be considered appropriate because the concern is that when it comes to sparring, with cards on the table HMRC kicks off and it's just a completely disastrous situation." Mr Whyte: "Yep. It's a disaster." Mr Grier: "A f****** disaster. Mr Grier: "So we need urgently the support to say that we were not conflicted and not involved in the Ticketus financing arrangement and if we get that we say to HMRC, look we've told you …were not involved in, and actually we were not conflicted. Mr Grier: "You got to say that we were not part of the Ticketus finance, I am not asking you to say we didn't know about it, we knew about Ticketus as a funder - but we were not part of the Ticketus financing arrangements." Mr Whyte said: "No part of the arrangements?" Mr Grier: "No part in the arrangements, there is a form of words…." The statement suggested by Mr Grier was to be drafted by Duff & Phelp's PR advisers, Media House and sent to Mr Whyte. The following day, the statement Craig Whyte was supposed to make was sent from a Hotmail address purporting to belong to a Ted Smith. 'Voice recognition' Mr Whyte never released the statement and the recording is to be used in a forthcoming court case involving Duff & Phelps and Mr Whyte's former lawyers Collyer Bristow. BBC Scotland has been able to confirm with a voice recognition expert that the recording is of Mr Grier. On Wednesday, after excerpts from the recording were broadcast by the BBC, Duff & Phelps' spokesman, Marty Dauer, said: "As we have previously stated, Duff and Phelps maintains that our conduct of the Rangers administration was carried out to the highest professional standards. "We do not respond to information that is taken out of context, as we believe is the case in the BBC story. "We welcome the opportunity to review a complete copy of the information that the BBC references in its story." 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stewarty 1,878 Posted October 25, 2012 Share Posted October 25, 2012 youtube of reporting scotland feature from tonight: 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
amms 0 Posted October 25, 2012 Share Posted October 25, 2012 Someone asking Craig Whyte to lie. Well I laughed. What's the endgame here for Mark Daly, is there anything that can be done on this or is it just more muck-raking for the sake of it? 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
the gunslinger 3,366 Posted October 25, 2012 Share Posted October 25, 2012 so no more arguing over whether their was a conflict of interes at least. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
forlanssister 3,059 Posted October 25, 2012 Share Posted October 25, 2012 so no more arguing over whether their was a conflict of interes at least. Ah but don't forget "they're pure officers of the court, they're respected professionals an arat"......... 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pete 2,499 Posted October 25, 2012 Share Posted October 25, 2012 Ah but don't forget "they're pure officers of the court, they're respected professionals an arat"......... Money rules ya Bassa!!!! 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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