Ex-Rangers administrators David Whitehouse and Paul Clark in £21m settlement

[the gunslinger 3,366]

1 hour ago, Bill said:

Who's footing the bill for all this punishment?

us of course. 

[compo 6,100]

2 hours ago, Bill said:

Who's footing the bill for all this punishment?

The silly folk who pay tax in this country 

[MacK1950 2,229]

33 minutes ago, compo said:

The silly folk who pay tax in this country 

So nothing forthcoming fro green brigade then.?

[Uilleam 5,408]

I had quite forgotten that justice is a many wheeled pantechnicon, and that its wheels grind, and grind, and grind, continually, and finely, on many matters of public concern, most of which, these days, seem to involve The Rangers, even if tangentially. 

 

Messrs BDO versus Messrs Duff and Phelps proceeds apace (a legal term, meaning 'with the speed of a runaway glacier'), and below is a report from The Times to prove it!!!

 

Apparently, as they say in Poileas Alba, Mr Craig Whyte was 'difficult' to deal with - who knew?

Mind you, ah ken a few lads who would deal with him readily, easily, and handily; in fact, they are itching to do so. 

 

Mr Kenny McBrearty, QC, and BDO's brief, said that

"Rangers was not just a football team but was a social, political and religious phenomenon..." 

I am not sure about that.

A "religious phenomenon"? Really? In that its fortunes are followed "religiously", and not merely by its own support?

A "political phenomenon"? Really? In that it is hated by the largest party in the Scottish Parliament, its members, and voters?

A "social phenomenon"? ......Well, probably. 

Actually, the learned McBrearty could -should- have said "Cultural Institution", "Sporting Institution", or just plain "Institution"; any would have sufficed.

 

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/dealing-with-craig-whyte-was-not-easy-says-rangers-administrator-paul-clark-69smdctpl

 

Dealing with Craig Whyte was not easy, says Rangers administrator Paul Clark

James Mulholland

Saturday May 22 2021, 12.01am, The Times

 

Administrators in 2012 wanted Craig Whyte, who then owned Rangers, to transfer his majority shareholding

 

One of the Rangers administrators has told how Craig Whyte “wasn’t the easiest man to deal with” during attempts to save the “social, political and religious phenomenon” from going under.

Paul Clark, 56, told a court how he and colleagues persuaded Whyte to follow a plan designed to help the club out of administration in 2012. They wanted Whyte, who then owned Rangers, to transfer his majority shareholding to people who were proposing to take control of the club.

The administrators were trying to arrange for new owners to take control of Rangers and set up a Company Voluntary Agreement to repay creditors. In June 2012 HMRC — the largest creditor — said the proposal was unacceptable, leading to Rangers being liquidated.

Clark told the Court of Session that Whyte was a “reasonably experienced businessman” but added: “He’s not the easiest character to deal with.”

Clark said: “Our view was that if we could get him on board and get him agreeable to some form of transfer willingly then that should be the best way forward.”

 

He was giving evidence in a case brought against him and his fellow administrator David Whitehouse by the liquidators of Rangers, BDO. It is suing them for £56.8 million, claiming they failed to cut costs sufficiently. The pair deny this and are contesting the claim.

Whitehouse and Clark went on to sell the business and assets to Charles Green’s consortium for £5.5 million before BDO were appointed to liquidate the old company.

 

The three men were later among seven indicted over fraud allegations relating to Rangers before the case against them was dropped in June 2016.

Both Whitehouse and Clark raised a multimillion pound action against the police and prosecutors last year. Prosecutors admitted the case against the duo was “malicious” and conducted “without probable cause”. They both received a multi-million pound settlement.

Prosecutors also admitted that Green, who was also arrested during the inquiry and eventually acquitted, was wrongfully taken to court and that the prosecution against him was malicious.

 

In court yesterday Clark told BDO’s advocate Kenny McBrearty QC that he felt a “lot of pressure” when he was an administrator to Rangers.

McBrearty asked: “Once you got into post, you would have realised that Rangers was not just a football team but was a social, political and religious phenomenon. Would you agree with that?”

Clark replied: “Yes I would agree with that and that was something that we realised before taking the role.”

 

The hearing continues.

 

Comments for this article have been turned off

Edited May 22, 2021 by Uilleam

[Scott7 5,124]

McBrearty. Must note that name in case, heaven forfend, I ever have to instruct counsel.

[Uilleam 5,408]

 

On 22/05/2021 at 09:38, Scott7 said:

McBrearty. Must note that name in case, heaven forfend, I ever have to instruct counsel.

Well, he's still on his feet, which, I suppose, indicates stamina, a quality he would require if, Heaven forfend, he were required to represent you. (Apparently.)

 

In the latest day's action,

"Members of a team of financial experts tasked with saving Rangers referred to a leading player at the club with a four-letter word, a court has been told.

The vile calumny was revealed to the court as:

a “complete twat”. .."

 

Inevitably, the country inquires,

"Who called the Rangers' star a complete twat?", and, more on point, perhaps,

"Who called the complete twat a Rangers' star?"

 

Are we spoiled for choice, here? 

 

Of more interest, perhaps, and amusement, is this snippet:

 

"Clark spoke yesterday about Blue Knights,.....He told Kenny McBrearty QC, who is acting for BDO, that he did not think the bid by the group was credible as it did not have the necessary money."

 

If only SDM had engaged the services of Duff and Phelps (or whatever it was called prior to takeover by D&P) before selling!

He would not have been 'duped' by D&P client, Craig Whyte!!!

Terry Munro would be a bluenose!!

 

Paul Clark and David Whitehouse had harsh words for Rangers football star

James Mulholland

Tuesday May 25 2021, 12.01am, The Times

 

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/paul-clark-and-david-whitehouse-had-harsh-words-for-rangers-football-star-vcvdzl5tn

 

Members of a team of financial experts tasked with saving Rangers referred to a leading player at the club with a four-letter word, a court has been told.

Paul Clark, 56, told lawyers on Monday that he accepted it was “unwise” to describe the star, who was not identified, as a “complete twat”.

The Court of Session was told that the unflattering comments were made in the course of conversations involving Clarke, the finance expert David Whitehouse, and Craig Whyte, the owner of Rangers FC in 2011-12. Both Clark and Whitehouse were acting as administrators to the club and were trying to secure its financial future.

 

Clark said that he was unsure about whether it was him or Whitehouse who made the remarks. The court was also told that the pair made remarks to Whyte about the club’s manager, Ally McCoist, and the club legend Sandy Jardine, and Clarke said he may have made “scathing” remarks about Paul Murray, a former Rangers director who led the “Blue Knights” consortium that tried to buy the club in 2012.

 

Clark was giving evidence for the second day in an action brought against him and Whitehouse by the liquidators of Rangers, BDO, which is suing them for £56.8 million over claims that they did not cut costs well enough after they were drafted in to sort out the ailing club in 2012.

Both Whitehouse and Clark deny allegations of negligence and are contesting the claim.

 

They were later among seven men indicted over fraud allegations relating to Rangers, before the case against them was dropped in June 2016. They raised an action against the police and prosecutors last year, after which it was admitted that the case against them was “malicious” and “without probable cause”. They both received multimillion-pound settlements.

 

Clark spoke yesterday about Blue Knights, which withdrew its bid to buy Rangers in May 2012. He told Kenny McBrearty QC, who is acting for BDO, that he did not think the bid by the group was credible as it did not have the necessary money.

Clark also told McBrearty that the administrators never considered devising a deal to save the club by selling assets such as the Ibrox stadium or the training ground at Murray Park.

He added: “We were not nor did we look to an alternative strategy in relation to the heritable property.”

The hearing, before Judge Lord Tyre, continues today.

 

Comments for this article have been turned off

[compo 6,100]

Name the twat 

[Uilleam 5,408]

The show continues, and in yesterday's Act, the position and attitude of the constituency MSP, St Nikla, was revealed.

Not much of a surprise from the top of the bill act, it has to be said, but prepare yourselves:

 

"Nicola Sturgeon gave “short shrift” to a plea from financial experts to help Rangers FC during attempts to secure the club’s financial future...

....She said, ‘We can’t be seen to be biased.’”

 

The proposal from D&P possibly looked like it could hold water, financially, unlike most of her interventions with public money.

On the question of 'bias', St Nikla demonstrated her support for the irony and steel industry, but surely the thought of putting a further boot into a Scottish Institution, associated with Unionism, never crossed her nationalist mind. 

 

It would be interesting to know what D&P's proposal actually was, and how long she/the government spent on considering it; Days? Hours? Minutes? Seconds? 

 

Nicola Sturgeon ruled out lifeline for Rangers as club tried to stay afloat

James Mulholland Thursday May 27 2021, 12.01am,

The Times

 

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/nicola-sturgeon-ruled-out-lifeline-for-rangers-as-club-tried-to-stay-afloat-f0vtht6nv

 

Nicola Sturgeon gave “short shrift” to a plea from financial experts to help Rangers FC during attempts to secure the club’s financial future, a court has heard.

David Whitehouse, 55, told the Court of Session yesterday that Sturgeon, the deputy first minister at the time, was reticent about allowing Scottish government intervention when the club was placed in administration in 2012.

The former administrator for the Glasgow club told Kenny McBrearty QC that he and his colleagues had approached Sturgeon. He said that she ruled out giving any help to Rangers. Whitehouse said: “We got short shrift when we approached her. She said, ‘We can’t be seen to be biased.’”

Whitehouse, a managing director of the financial services firm Duff & Phelps, was giving evidence for the second day.

He has been called as a witness in an action brought by BDO, the liquidators of Rangers.

The financial services firm is suing Whitehouse and Paul Clark, 56, for £56.8 million. BDO believes that Whitehouse and Clark failed to cut costs sufficiently after they had been drafted in to sort out the ailing club.

Lawyers for BDO claim that the pair could have raised more money for the club. Both Whitehouse and Clark deny allegations of negligence and are contesting the claim.

 

Whitehouse and Clark were appointed by the Court of Session as administrators after HMRC took Rangers to court for £18 million of unpaid tax in February 2012. The two men went on to sell the business and assets of the oldco to Charles Green’s consortium for £5.5 million before BDO was appointed to liquidate the old company.

 

They were later among seven men indicted over fraud allegations relating to Rangers. The case against them was dropped in June 2016 and both Whitehouse and Clark sued the police and prosecutors last year. Prosecutors admitted the case against the duo was “malicious” and conducted “without probable cause”. They both received multimillion-pound settlements.

Prosecutors further admitted that Charles Green — who headed the consortium that bought the club, was also arrested during the probe and eventually acquitted — was wrongfully taken to court and that the prosecution against him was malicious.

The hearing continues.

 

 

 

 

[Bill 13,717]

The thing in all this that I'd like to understand is the role that was played by the SNP government in these "malicious" prosecutions and exactly what their objectives were. So many people were charged or prosecuted and they all resulted in cases being dropped, often with damages being awarded. Who decided to pursue these prosecutions and why? I find it impossible to believe it was the police acting of their own accord.

[RANGERRAB 3,254]

2 hours ago, Bill said:

The thing in all this that I'd like to understand is the role that was played by the SNP government in these "malicious" prosecutions and exactly what their objectives were. So many people were charged or prosecuted and they all resulted in cases being dropped, often with damages being awarded. Who decided to pursue these prosecutions and why? I find it impossible to believe it was the police acting of their own accord.

I don’t think they were wrong to pursue anyone they thought was involved in wrongdoing during the administration. Nothing to do with politics