SteveC 150 Posted July 23, 2017 Share Posted July 23, 2017 Earley - who shouldn't even have been involved &co claiming that they are the victims of fraud. Beyond belief.... http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/15428043.Rangers___39_oldcos__39__stalk_the_club/ IN another astonishing turn in the Rangers financial saga both the old company which owned the club and the new one in control are likely to face multi-million pound claims on their assets. A London firm which buys litigation claims to pursue them through the courts has resurrected the company through which Craig Whyte bought Rangers, and also saved from being struck-off the one which Charles Green used to acquire the club after Whyte’s short and disastrous ownership. Both companies, Wavetower and Sevco 5088, believe they have legitimate claims on both liquidated funds and against the present club. Henderson & Jones describe themselves as expert litigators and insolvency professionals who purchase legal claims and endeavour to get money back to creditors by pursuing their legal claims. The two principals are Philip Henderson and Gwilym Jones. On June 20 Henderson & Jones were appointed directors of Wavetower (now renamed The Rangers FC Group). Eight days earlier they had joined the board of Sevco 5088. Wavetower had been struck off by the Registrar of Companies and Sevco was about to be. Less than a fortnight later they had completed the processes to secure both the companies on the register again. They also joined the board of the associated company which was still trading, Law Financial, which Whyte founded. It holds a security over Sevco. Law, Sevco and Wavetower are ultimately owned by the Worthington Group which is now in liquidation. Philip Henderson told the Sunday Herald that they were working with Worthington liquidators, Begbies Traynor, to "deal with and evaluate any claims the Worthington subsidiaries might have, or might be made against them. As part of that role we became a director of each of the Worthington subsidiaries". He added that the company wanted to work with Rangers "oldco" liquidators, the accountancy firm BDO, "to help them get to a position where they can make a distribution to the unsecured creditors". Whyte bought Rangers for £1 in May 2011 from Sir David Murray. The vehicle he used was Wavetower. A little over a year later, and after Whyte ran out of cash, the Rangers collapse left thousands of unsecured creditors out of pocket, including 6,000 fans who bought £7.7m worth of debenture seats at Ibrox. Wavetower’s claim is that it is a preferential creditor and should be head of the queue for cash, in front of the tax authorities, in the liquidation. Wavetower, Whyte's then company, inherited a security over assets including Ibrox and Murray Park from Lloyds Banking Group after paying off Rangers £18m debt using future season ticket sales. The security was originally set up in 1999 because of Rangers ballooning debt. BDO have resisted the claim and in court documents argued that it was based on a fraudulent scheme. However Whyte's acquittal on all charges would appear to bolster Wavetower's entitlement claim. Last year a judgment by Lord Doherty put off any decision on the rights and wrongs of the claim until the conclusion of Whyte's fraud trial. Unless agreement can be reached this is likely to be tested in yet another Rangers court case. BDO holds substantial liquidation funds, believed to be in excess of £30m, including £24m from the lawyers Collyer Bristow who acted for Whyte. BDO will now also pursue more than 80 former players and staff, like Murray and former club captain Barry Ferguson, who benefited from an elaborate tax avoidance scheme – Employee Benefit Trusts, which the Supreme Court ruled were disguised salary payments. The recipients will be forced to pay back millions of pounds to the HMRC through BDO or face bankruptcy. It is believed that the Revenue has recovered more than £1bn from other of those schemes. Following Whyte's calamitous ownership, in June 2012 Charles Green completed the purchase of Rangers' assets for £5.5m through Sevco 5088. The new Sevco claim will centre on the ownership of Rangers and the transfer of assets, such as the Ibrox ground and the Auchenhowie training complex, by Green to another of his companies, Sevco Scotland, and the substantial upward revaluation of these assets. Green was later ousted and subsequently replaced by South African businessman Dave King. The company is now called Rangers International Football Club PLC. In filings at Companies House last month by Sevco 5088, the company claims it has investments of £15,700,000, with just £1 in the bank. In a note to the accounts, the directors state: “The company believes it has been the victim of fraud, and as such, the directors are not satisfied that they have all the accounting records of the company and these financial statements are therefore prepared on the basis of the accounting information that the directors do have.” One of the signatories is director Aidan Earley. Earley is a discharged bankrupt. In 2014 he was banned for five years from holding a directorship but in an rare move was allowed to remain as a director of Sevco. It is believed that this was connected to his battle over the ownership of Rangers. The Sunday Herald contacted the liquidator BDO for comment about the Wavetower claim, without response. Rangers comment to come…. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
der Berliner 3,263 Posted July 23, 2017 Share Posted July 23, 2017 Methinks we had similar attempts before, perhaps from similar parties. And BDO dismissed those. You have to commend the Rangers supporters that Whyte and Co. are still walking about ... can't tell what I would do if I meet them in person. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barebear 37 Posted July 23, 2017 Share Posted July 23, 2017 1. These guys sound like ambulance chasers to me. I wouldn't say 'likely to face claims'. and, 2. How can the ex players be expected to pay up tax? It was the club's duty to do that. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluedell 5,348 Posted July 23, 2017 Share Posted July 23, 2017 2. How can the ex players be expected to pay up tax? It was the club's duty to do that. It's ultimately the players' responsibility to complete their own tax returns and pay any unpaid tax. If my employer gets my tax wrong I'm still due to pay any outstanding. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
the gunslinger 3,366 Posted July 23, 2017 Share Posted July 23, 2017 It's ultimately the players' responsibility to complete their own tax returns and pay any unpaid tax. If my employer gets my tax wrong I'm still due to pay any outstanding. What of the letters of comfort though. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barebear 37 Posted July 23, 2017 Share Posted July 23, 2017 It's ultimately the players' responsibility to complete their own tax returns and pay any unpaid tax. If my employer gets my tax wrong I'm still due to pay any outstanding. If my payslip is right, but the tax wasn't paid to HMRC by my company then what? The difficulty will arise in the paperwork that accompanied the payments, what were the letters of Comfort, GS? 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott7 5,202 Posted July 23, 2017 Share Posted July 23, 2017 Dear Sir If the tax arrangements we've made don't work out, don't worry we'll fix it and you won't be out of pocket. Yours comfortably 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
trublusince1982 243 Posted July 23, 2017 Share Posted July 23, 2017 If my payslip is right, but the tax wasn't paid to HMRC by my company then what? The difficulty will arise in the paperwork that accompanied the payments, what were the letters of Comfort, GS? you would still have to pay the due tax. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluedell 5,348 Posted July 23, 2017 Share Posted July 23, 2017 What of the letters of comfort though. I'm not sure what the letters of comfort said, but if they said something like "Rangers will meet any tax arising from the EBTs" it wouldn't matter. The player would still be liable. An employer can't take away that liability. The player could then sue his employer for reimbursement of the cash, but they aren't going to get much out of oldco. As a more general point, I'm aware of an ex-player who has been contacted by HMRC looking for tax on a 6 figure sum, so it's started. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
boabie 230 Posted July 23, 2017 Share Posted July 23, 2017 Wavetower, Law Financial and others are companies set up by Whyte. They had no assets - nothing apart from what they claimed on paper. Whyte sold Law Financial to Worthington so they could try to claim they were owed money. They got the bums rush before going out of business. Whyte is in the background of this action. No doubt. He'll get the bums rush again. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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