SteveC 150 Posted June 26, 2013 Share Posted June 26, 2013 After a few days break, here we go again: Rangersâ?? finance chief Brian Stockbridge discussed selling £5million of shares in the club to a convicted fraudster on Interpolâ??s most wanted list. Stockbridge is heard on tape talking to former Rangers owner Craig Whyte and the clubâ??s axed commercial director Imran Ahmad about a possible cash injection from Rafat Rizvi, who is being pursued by police. Interpolâ??s website carries a red notice international alert stating that Rizvi, 52, is wanted for â??corruption, money laundering and banking crimeâ? over his alleged role in the collapse of a bank in Indonesia. The alert asks anyone with any information about his whereabouts or activities to contact police. Last night, the Rangers Supporters Trust said the revelation that Rizvi was involved in talks was â??highly disturbingâ?. They called for fans to be told who has invested in Rangers and said: â??We need to ensure the club have been cleansed of unwanted influences.â? Rangers insist Rizvi has made no investment in the club â?? but the fact that someone on Interpolâ??s wanted list was even discussed has prompted concern among fans. The Record has listened to two hours of recordings that have been leaked on to the internet, where they are openly available to be heard. During the taped discussions, Stockbridge and Ahmad thrash out a multi-million pound deal in London with shamed former owner Whyte. The recorded meeting â?? which took place before the attempt to save Rangers from liquidation last summer â?? appears to show that Rizviâ??s cash was going to be used to help finance Charles Greenâ??s ultimately successful Ibrox takeover. Green has subsequently left the club. At one point, Ahmad brags: â??At the moment, what Iâ??ve taken so far is actually £5.5million from Rafat now.â? At the time, Stockbridge was being lined up as the next man in charge of Rangersâ?? finances. The 39-year-old, who was appointed Rangersâ?? finance director in June last year, says on the tape that Rizvi is a â??nice guyâ?. He is also heard discussing Rizviâ??s previous business dealings. Speaking about a firm Rizvi was involved with, Stockbridge says: â??Rafat was CEO of the company. He then had his troubles ... Rafat sort of stepped down.â? The tape also includes discussion, involving Stockbridge, about the damage it might do to Rangers if Rizviâ??s involvement was made public. Stockbridge says: â??How widely is it known? Rafatâ??s name is not mentioned anywhere, is it?â? Ahmad replies: â??No, it is.â? Stockbridge says: â??You could get a headline saying, you know, â??Convicted...â??â? Ahmad then says: â??In Indonesia it is like being convicted of something in Pakistan. You know, he may not necessarily be guilty. â??Heâ??s not nicked £600million. When we go out for lunches with him, we know. If someone has nicked £600million, they wouldnâ??t struggle to pick up lunch.â? Stockbridge says: â??We donâ??t need this coming out. This is just...â? But Ahmad assures Stockbridge â??thereâ??s no paper trailsâ? linking Rizvi to Rangers and adds: â??Thereâ??s no connection.â? Stockbridge says: â??If someone starts digging in there...â? But Ahmad interrupts and repeats: â??Thereâ??s no connection. Charles is going to have to decide to say what he says. Iâ??m not going to coach him. Personally, Iâ??d tell the truth. Yeah, you know, Iâ??ve worked with Rafat in the past, Iâ??ve never acted for him while he was CEO but the company I took on he had to step down from as CEO because he was in disgrace.â? Stockbridge then asks Ahmad how to deal with any possible questions from the media about Rizviâ??s involvement behind the scenes. He asks: â??What happens if someone asks if heâ??s involved in this deal?â? Ahmad replies: â??No. An absolute straight no.â? The meeting ends with Whyte agreeing to sell control to the Green/Ahmad consortium in a deal which would have seen him pocket up to £5million worth of shares. Green has subsequently insisted he was stringing Whyte along so he could get his shares â?? a plan he says changed when the club were liquidated and Whyteâ??s shares were no longer needed. In the recordings, Ahmad claims Rizvi â??and his matesâ? were prepared to plough about £5million into the deal to buy Rangers after the club had been wrecked by Whyte. It is agreed by all three that Rizviâ??s identity must remain confidential. Ahmad says to Whyte: â??Letâ??s just say an association with you is much better than an association with Rafat.â? Rizvi features on Interpolâ??s wanted persons list under the name Ali Rafat Rizvi â?? and has done since 2009. He was sentenced, in absentia, to a 15-year jail term in Indonesia for allegedly stealing from Bank Century, in which he was a shareholder. But Rizvi, a UK national who was born in Pakistan, has been able to live as a free man in London and Singapore as there is no extradition treaty with Indonesia. Rizvi insists he is innocent and has claimed the charges are trumped up and politically motivated. He had previous business links with Ahmad and Stockbridge dating back to when the pair worked for London finance firm Allenby Capital. He is also a friend and business partner of Green, who took his place on the board of Mongolia-based company Nova Resources. During the discussions, Whyte asks Ahmad: â??So Charles and Rafat are closer than you and Rafat?â? Ahmad replies: â??Iâ??d say the relationship is equal.â? Ahmad also insists that both he and Stockbridge will team up behind the scenes at Ibrox to act in Whyteâ??s interests. He says: â??You should regard us as your reps. Weâ??ll be totally dispassionate. No loyalties to Charles or Rafat.â? Stockbridge says of Rizvi: â??Heâ??s a nice guy. I speak to him but I wouldnâ??t do a deal with him.â? And Ahmad adds: â??Weâ??ll take his money but thatâ??s it.â? He then claims to have already banked £5.5million from Rizvi. Whyte asks: â??Is that £5.5million?â? Ahmad continues: â??Itâ??s not all from him. Five from Rafat and his mates. I think what Rafatâ??s done is taken £50,000 of cheap shares himself and heâ??s loaded his mates with £4.5million worth of expensive shares â?? because you know there were two classes (of shares)?â? Whyte and Ahmad then thrash out the terms of their own agreement. Ahmad says to Whyte: â??Iâ??d actually rather you have a controlling stake in it. Rather than the Rafat and f****** Charles Green show.â? Whyte says: â??Yeah, exactly. That was always the intention. Letâ??s face it, we might need to ditch them at some point.â? Ahmad laughs and agrees: â??We definitely need to ditch them.â? Later, Whyte stresses the need for secrecy about his own involvement and that of Rizvi. He says: â??Iâ??m just thinking if things come out, if Rafatâ??s name comes up or if my involvement comes out...â? Ahmad replies: â??Iâ??ll just say itâ??s absolutely nothing to do with me, speak to Charles (laughs all round). Charles has got a lot more association with him than me in terms of heâ??s actually bought a company with Rafat.â? Ahmad later predicts â?? accurately, as it turned out â?? that Green will not last a year in the role of chief executive. He says: â??Charles will f*** himself. He wonâ??t be able to help himself. Heâ??ll be like a kid in a candy shop. Heâ??ll get absolutely burnt alive there.â? The group then go on to discuss cashing in on the clubâ??s best players â?? citing the sale of Nikica Jelavic to Everton for £5million. Whyte claims he had little choice but to cash in on the Croat. He says: â??The problem with Jelavic was, everybody was annoyed that we sold him but he basically refused to play. He downed tools.â? Whyte adds of Gers manager Ally McCoist: â??McCoist said, â??Just sell him. McCoist is useless. McCoist is f****** useless...â? Stockbridge has declined to make any on-the-record comments about the recordings and the issues they raise. Rangers insist Stockbridge met Whyte only on one occasion and that there are no links between the pair. An Ibrox spokesman said last night: â??An independent forensic inquiry has been conducted inside Ibrox and the club and management have been cleared to carry on with their business.â? The spokesman added: â??Brian Stockbridge has not had and does not have connections to Rafat Rizvi.â? Mark Dingwall, of the Rangers Supporters Trust, said last night: â??Although both Charles Green and Imran Ahmad claimed they were only playing Craig Whyte along in order to obtain his shares, the content of the tapes of discussions led by Ahmad are highly disturbing, particularly with regard to the proposed involvement of Whyte and Rizvi. â??As Ally McCoist has said, we need to ensure the club has been cleansed of unwanted influences. â??The identities of the beneficial shareholders â?? in some cases hidden behind lawyers offices or holding companies around the world â?? have been disclosed to the SFA and we see no reason why Stewart Regan knows who owns parts of Rangers yet the fans who fund the club are kept in the dark.â? 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest kenjay Posted June 26, 2013 Share Posted June 26, 2013 Well at least Whyte was right about McCoist. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
the gunslinger 3,366 Posted June 26, 2013 Share Posted June 26, 2013 stockebridge should be sacked today. indeed he should have been sacked long ago. the sooner we are rid of all these shysters the better. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
amms 0 Posted June 26, 2013 Share Posted June 26, 2013 To be fair to the Record it is a story. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chilledbear 16 Posted June 26, 2013 Share Posted June 26, 2013 Gets us nowhere pointing the finger at the media if stories are true. We have to cleanse Ibrox from top to bottom before we can move forward. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
reaper 0 Posted June 26, 2013 Share Posted June 26, 2013 3 year old story. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/globalbusiness/7575088/Wanted-man-issues-legal-threat-to-Interpol.html 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max Rebo's Big Blue Nose 0 Posted June 26, 2013 Share Posted June 26, 2013 Reading that made me feel quite sick. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
54andcounting 0 Posted June 26, 2013 Share Posted June 26, 2013 When is all this ever going to end? 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
der Berliner 3,290 Posted June 26, 2013 Share Posted June 26, 2013 Have the Scum hired some impersonators and now try to tango us? The NSA would be proud to have all these tapes taken without people knowing it ... and you really wonder in who's interest they were made ... if at all. Not exactly looking for conspiracies here, but the amount of this stuff really begs a few questions. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
the gunslinger 3,366 Posted June 26, 2013 Share Posted June 26, 2013 Have the Scum hired some impersonators and now try to tango us? The NSA would be proud to have all these tapes taken without people knowing it ... and you really wonder in who's interest they were made ... if at all. Not exactly looking for conspiracies here, but the amount of this stuff really begs a few questions. like how many cunts are involved with us? 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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