Breaking news: BTC - Rangers appeal successful

[Blue Moon 1,118]

It's got to be said that the drip feeding of some correct information (which gave the leaks credibility) laced with false information and wrapped up in an disparaging package will have put off many buyers and investors as well as sponsors etc.

 

We have definitely suffered losses which makes a court case viable but the problem is that all losses are due to the oldco and its creditors.

 

I don't have a problem with the creditors getting more money. I remember the shame I felt when I saw the list and will never forgive CW for that alone.

 

I have a dream that GDS stops the liquidation of the club, all the enquiries are carried out and we are reunited with the old club.

 

Fantasy, I know, but you can dream.

[calscot 0]

I don't have a problem with the creditors getting more money. I remember the shame I felt when I saw the list and will never forgive CW for that alone.

 

I have a dream that GDS stops the liquidation of the club, all the enquiries are carried out and we are reunited with the old club.

 

Fantasy, I know, but you can dream.

 

Just have to say, There is NO OLD CLUB. There is an old company but there is only one club. Maybe you're reading the BBC website too much.

 

The oldco will probably still be liquidated, Ticketus is a big creditor and there is still the unpaid tax from last season which is at least £14m.

[Darthter 542]

Just have to say, There is NO OLD CLUB. There is an old company but there is only one club. Maybe you're reading the BBC website too much.

 

....and that old company still has a fairly massive debt....

Edited November 22, 2012 by Darthter
Reference to old club, rather than old company...D'oh

[der Berliner 3,287]

....and that old club still has a fairly massive debt....

 

.. which club?

[54andcounting 0]

....and that old company still has a fairly massive debt....

 

Sorted that for you mate.

[EDGE 0]

Fuck the company, let it go.

 

What's done is done, and as far as I'm concerned, what's the point in trying to save it? We've shed a shit load of debt and are now "debt-free" according to Charlie.

[ian1964 10,448]

Keith Jackson : Was the handling of Rangers an act of malicious intent

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

PAUL MURRAY spent more than

a year of his life trying to save Rangers from the path to

destruction.

 

When Craig Whyte first emerged from the shadows as the club’s potential new owner, Murray warned of disaster ahead before finally – having reached his wits’ end with worry – attempting to launch his own 11th-hour counter-proposal which was pretty much strangled at birth.

 

Murray was then swiftly booted off the board as soon as Whyte had completed his purchase of the club for just a single pound.

 

And when his club was then plunged into administration a few months later, Murray scrambled together a group of Blue Knights whose mission statement was to save Rangers from the full-scale horror of liquidation.

 

Again, however, he came up short. To the tune of around £80million.

 

That was the size of the potential bill for EBTs which allowed Whyte into power in the first place – and then which scuppered any chance of striking a pence-in-the-pound deal with the taxman which would have allowed the ‘oldco’ to survive and perhaps even flourish again both in the top flight of Scottish football and also in the

money- spinning European arena.

 

CONTROL

 

No wonder then, now that the Big Tax Case has crumbled leaving Rangers in the clear, Murray is in search of answers.

 

Who was responsible for allowing this saga to rumble on for so long, creating a climate of such anxiety and uncertainty that a man such as Whyte was able to walk in through the front doors of Ibrox and seize control?

 

Why did it take almost two years to deliver a verdict on an issue which hung over the club like the sword of

Damocles?

 

And now that it’s been settled in Rangers favour, who should pay for all the damage that has been done?

 

Most of all, though, Murray wants to know how it could possibly be that a 140-year-old institution could be placed in such a perilous position by the authorities.

 

And if any of those dealing with the crisis were acting out of malicious intent.

 

Speaking exclusively to Record Sport yesterday, the Borders-based financial high-flyer called for court-appointed liquidators BDO to launch an urgent, wide-ranging probe into the

circumstances surrounding the events which eventually saw Rangers go under and reappear again in the fourth tier of Scottish football.

 

He said: “I have to ask myself were people acting with a degree of malice towards Rangers? The answer to that is, I simply don’t know.

 

“But what I am saying is that there is certainly

enough concern, loose ends and unanswered

questions around this to absolutely warrant some kind of investigation. That’s why I believe BDO have a moral and legal responsibility to look at the whole chain of events, stretching back two maybe even three years, which ultimately led to the demise and liquidation of the ‘oldco’.

 

“I want them to look at the actions of all the parties involved and then, on the basis of that, decide whether they should be pursuing damages on behalf of the stakeholders.”

 

Those damages, Murray believes, could be substantial. And by

substantial he means mind-boggling, perhaps well in excess of £50m.

 

The ultimate irony, however, is that any successful legal claims would be paid straight into the oldco’s creditors’ pot – and the vast majority of it would quickly be gobbled up by HMRC who were owed £15m in missing PAYE by Whyte’s crooked regime.

 

And that irony is not lost on Murray. He said: “One of the most important points to make here is that the very fact HMRC’s £75m claim was accepted as a claim in the first place meant they could block a CVA. Had it not been there, hanging over the club, then they would not have been able to block the CVA.

 

PENALTIES

 

“That would have left Ticketus as the major creditor and they were keen to accept a CVA.

 

“In which case, Rangers would have been spared the turmoil of liquidation and would not have wound up in the Third Division, suffering all the financial penalties which accompanied it. There would have been no need for liquidation and no need for the creation of a newco. Also, there has to be some explanation given for exactly why it took so long for the tribunal to deliver its verdict. When I left the board in May 2011, we expected a verdict to come that July, just two months later. I think Craig Whyte was banking on that because he did not

have the funds required to run the

club on a long-term basis,

especially when the team was knocked out of the Champions League qualifiers by Malmo.

 

“But here we are, some 18 months down the line, and now we discover that Rangers were not guilty.

 

“Again, I have to ask why did it take so long to reach that verdict and create such a crippling

atmosphere of uncertainty? Without all that confusion Whyte would never have won control.”

 

Murray still curses that very day. And now he wants others to be

held to account for failing so

spectacularly to protect his

football club – and helping to tip it over the edge. He said: “You do have to accept HMRC have a statutory duty on behalf of the public purse to

pursue what they regard as tax

avoidance.

 

“So it is perfectly acceptable for them to challenge this kind of thing. In fact, it’s their job. But what I find very concerning – and what needs to be looked at – is the length of time it took them to come to this decision and the massive damage this delay caused.

 

“And by damage I’m talking in

particular about having the keys handed over to a man such as Craig Whyte.

 

“At that time no one credible would have invested in Rangers, when this contingent liability was hanging over the club. It was insanity and I said that at the time.

 

“I stepped forward with an alternative deal but I made it clear I wanted David Murray

to take the liability on his

shoulders.

 

“He refused to do that and sold to Whyte, who agreed to take the liability on.

 

“I said at the time it was complete insanity and we can now all see for ourselves the full result of that insanity.”

[Blue Moon 1,118]

Just have to say, There is NO OLD CLUB. There is an old company but there is only one club. Maybe you're reading the BBC website too much.

 

The oldco will probably still be liquidated, Ticketus is a big creditor and there is still the unpaid tax from last season which is at least £14m.

 

Sorry, complete slip of the tongue

[calscot 0]

Maybe he should have taken the liability on, knowing that administration and liquidation we possible get outs. The difference with Whyte is that Murray's investors would have lost their money rather than Ticketus - and he probably didn't want to be in charge while Rangers went though the mill as he would likely be blamed and vilified.

 

However, with the tax case won, the investment wouldn't have been lost.

 

If the club was liquidated due to HMRC winning then they could have done a Green and got their money back through an IPO. The only problem is that they could have severe competition to get the club back.

[forlanssister 3,059]

Serious questions must also be asked of those in LBG whose actions in forcing the sale to Craig Whyte actually reduced the return they would have received had they not forced the sale so in effect gaining less money for their shareholders (and ergo UK taxpayers).