SteveC 150 Posted December 14, 2014 Share Posted December 14, 2014 CRAIG Whyte last night protested his innocence of fraud charges over his Rangers takeover and revealed: “I sleep well at night.” Former owner Whyte, who is accused of swindling his way to power at Ibrox, vowed he will clear his name. But as he lifted the lid on his dramatic arrest in Mexico last month, he insisted he has no fear of prison. Whyte, 43, said: “These are huge issues and I don’t take any of it lightly. I always sleep well at night. “I know that I have done absolutely nothing wrong. Over the last six months, I don’t think it has been very difficult. “But if you asked me over the last month, I would say it hasn’t been very pleasant in lots of ways.” Whyte, who plunged Gers into administration during his controversial reign, faces jail time if he is convicted of serious charges. He said: “It wouldn’t be very nice but it doesn’t frighten me. “It’s not something I would wish on anybody but I hope that it doesn’t come to that. “It’s too early to be thinking like that, I’m positive. “I’m not going to mope around and think of the worst things that could happen to me because that’s not the way to live.” The businessman, from Motherwell, blasted prosecutors and cops over his nicking in Mexico City minutes after landing on a flight from Japan. And he branded news reports following his arrest as “bollocks”. He said: “I agreed to surrender on December 8 so I was taken by surprise to be detained in Mexico. “In my view the Crown Office and the police did that for the publicity — there was no extradition. “I want to get across all the bollocks that’s been written in the last couple of weeks. “I came back here voluntarily, I have co-operated with prosecutors for the last two years and they have still not asked me a question.” He had on the same smart grey coat he wore when he ran a gauntlet of angry Light Blues fans outside Glasgow Sheriff Court in November. And Whyte, sporting the floppy hairdo and beard that are his new trademark, revealed he has no plans to invest in football again. As he tucked into a burger lunch at a swanky hotel restaurant, tanned Whyte said: “I don’t regret doing it because I think you regret the things you don’t do — but I wouldn’t do it again. “Hindsight is a wonderful thing. I wouldn’t be rushing to do a football deal again.” The tycoon, once based in Monaco, became a hate figure among supporters after taking Gers into administration as they tumbled from top-flight football to Division Three. The club was later liquidated, sparking an exodus of top players. He claimed Rangers would have gone under sooner had it not been for his takeover in 2011. He went on: “I never asked for any of it. I’m a private, low-key kind of guy, not at all suited to being involved in a football club. “What everyone forgets is I’m the only person in recent years who hasn’t taken a penny out of Rangers. “Even these current charges, I don’t think I’m accused of taking any money out of Rangers. “I bought a company that was bankrupt for £1. Rangers were already completely bankrupt at the time when I got involved. “All I did was step in to try to rescue a situation that was already way beyond. It was my intention to take it forward as a business and not to see it in the sorry state it is in at the moment.” Asked what went wrong, he said: “Champions League would have been a bonus but if Rangers had got into the Europa League they would not have gone into administration that season.” Whyte reckons only someone with £100 million to chuck at the club could have done a better job than him — and that administration was on the cards before he bought out Sir David Murray. He said: “Given the set of circumstances, it’s difficult for anyone to do unless they were willing to chuck £100 million and make sure they bought the players to get results in Europe and so on. Rangers would have gone into administration, before I came along, they were taking insolvency advice. “Absolutely, no doubt about it. Probably sooner.” Whyte, banned from Scottish football for life in 2012, reckons his relationship with Gers supporters is broken forever but he is just as hurt by the club’s fate. And he believes nothing he could say to the Ibrox faithful could shake his bogey man image. He said: “I’m not angry, you have to play the hand that you are dealt but disappointed is a fair comment. “I’m a Rangers fan myself, my family are Rangers fans. “They have every right to be angry but there is nothing I’m going to say that will make any difference about their anger so it’s pointless trying to have that conversation.” Asked if he thinks there is any chance of the Rangers fans changing their minds about him he added: “You can never say never because never is a long time. Hopefully when the facts come out, and they will in this process, people might form a different view. “There are complex issues but things will come to light that will be explosive in many ways.” He admits none of the turmoil he now faces was expected when he took over the reins but says the mistrust among fans is “entirely unfair”. Whyte added: “Anyone who deals with me and has known me knows that’s not the person they recognise. It’s not a fair reflection of who I am. “I think the average fan, and I don’t want to be patronising here, but they don’t understand the complexities of everything that has been going on. Of course, I sympathise with them.” Before his first court appearance, Whyte hadn’t been seen in Scotland for a year since he gave evidence at Inverness Sheriff Court at the trial of two former workers at his castle home near Grantown-on-Spey, Moray. In September the bank repossessed it after he failed to keep up with remortgage payments. Whyte said: “It was a pain in the arse to be honest. It was empty 90 per cent of the time. “It was just a pile of bills with no benefits. I don’t regret losing it.” He was also hit with a 15-year ban from running a company at the Court of Session. He said: “I didn’t defend it. Partially because I didn’t know about it — they didn’t serve any papers. “Secondly it’s not safe to go to trial in Edinburgh every day and thirdly because it has to be funded at the cost of several hundred thousand pounds.” http://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/scotsol/homepage/news/6181247/Whyte-Ive-no-regrets.html?teaser=true 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy steel 0 Posted December 14, 2014 Share Posted December 14, 2014 Still full of shite, I see. I'm away to wash my eyes after reading that. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Siam69 0 Posted December 14, 2014 Share Posted December 14, 2014 (edited) That cunt Tiag Whyte will never change, the lies, scams and bullshit are what he is, and always will be, a way of life. Sociopath springs to mind. Edited December 14, 2014 by Siam69 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
the gunslinger 3,366 Posted December 14, 2014 Share Posted December 14, 2014 so many obvious lies. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ser Barristan Selmy 222 Posted December 14, 2014 Share Posted December 14, 2014 He's just one of many. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
26th of foot 6,082 Posted December 14, 2014 Share Posted December 14, 2014 Craigie has missed the Panto season, his Agent should ensure a summer season at Butlins. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mountain Bear 0 Posted December 14, 2014 Share Posted December 14, 2014 so many obvious lies. To be fair to him, it's quite impressive cramming so many lies into so few words. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
aweebluesoandso 290 Posted December 14, 2014 Share Posted December 14, 2014 (edited) He isn't going to do any time, because he's a snivelling wee coward, he'll turn on his erstwhile friends and implicate them all. The judged will take into account his full confession and implicating others involved in the fraud, he'll get a massive fine and suspended sentence. Least some of the truth will come out, if i was the others involved lawyers i would be telling them to squeal louder and put the wee fooker firmly in the frame. Edited December 14, 2014 by aweebluesoandso 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveC 150 Posted December 14, 2014 Author Share Posted December 14, 2014 He isn't going to do any time, because he's a snivelling wee coward, he'll turn on his erstwhile friends and implicate them all. The judged will take into account his full confession and implicating others involved in the fraud, he'll get a massive fine and suspended sentence. Least some of the truth will come out, if i was the others involved lawyers i would be telling them to squeal louder and put the wee fooker firmly in the frame. Who will pay that one wonders, some poor ripped off sod or another 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
aweebluesoandso 290 Posted December 14, 2014 Share Posted December 14, 2014 Who will pay that one wonders, some poor ripped off sod or another Should have added "with time to pay" lol 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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