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

[RANGERRAB 3,680]

5 hours ago, the gunslinger said:

as much as i like seeing the crown office get a doing currently I think they were right abut Whitehouse. 

 

I don't think our administration was fair and above board one bit personally. 

 

 

Whyte was allowed to appoint the administrators IIRC. From what’s now known it was obvious who was going to be the successful bidder in the end up.No wonder the crown office got suspicious 

 

Edited March 29, 2021 by RANGERRAB

[compo 7,055]

I should think there must be plenty of compensation solicitors out there watching this in the aim of securing clients seeking Scottish taxpayers riches if they've been charged and then had the charges thrown out or dropped .

Get in there and fill yer boots .

[Uilleam 5,948]

In case anyone had forgotten, in the welter of legal actions around the Club, here is the latest on BDO (The Liquidators) versus Duff and Phelps (The Administrators).

 

The report, below, suggests that BDO claims that Duff and Phelps

"failed to cut costs sufficiently after they were drafted in to sort the then ailing club",

although it may seem to the man on the Cessnock Subway that £56.8M represents an awful lot of cost cutting, during the relatively short period of time, in which D&P were in charge, even if he assumes that BDO aims high. 

I think that BDO claims, primarily, that D&P had not maximised the return from the disposal of the Company and its assets, and that this may make up the lion's share of the sum sought.

 

You may form your own view on the reliability of Charles Green as a witness. 

My opinion is that it will be difficult for a man suffering from 'Rangersitis', a chronic affliction, with no known cure, to maintain objectivity, even on the stand. 

 

Ex-Rangers executive Charles Green urged to give evidence in £57m case

James Mulholland

Tuesday March 30 2021, 12.01am, The Times

 

Prosecutors have admitted they should not have taken legal action against Charles Green

 

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/ex-rangers-executive-charles-green-urged-to-give-evidence-in-57m-case-hvk25tjs7

 

Charles Green, the former Rangers chief executive, was urged to give evidence in a £56.8 million action brought by a financial firm against the club’s former administrators.

 

Lawyers for David Whitehouse and Paul Clark have asked him to appear at the Court of Session. Andrew Young QC told judge Lord Tyre yesterday that solicitors were awaiting for a reply from Green, who is believed to be in France.

Whitehouse and Clark are being sued by the club’s former liquidator BDO. The pair worked for Duff & Phelps. The company believes the pair failed to cut costs sufficiently after they were drafted in to sort the then ailing club.

Young said: “I don’t have a written statement from him; he has spoken to those who have instructed me and he has given his views on a number of issues. We have asked whether he would sign a witness statement and give evidence.”

 

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 2012. The men went on to sell the business and assets of the Oldco to Green’s consortium for £5.5 million before BDO was appointed to liquidate the old company.

 

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

Both men raised a multimillion-pound action against the police and prosecutors last year. Prosecutors admitted the case was “malicious” and conducted “without probable cause”. Both received a large settlement. Prosecutors also admitted Green was wrongfully taken to court.

[Uilleam 5,948]

Another £7M, or thereby, and legal costs no doubt, and all from the public purse.

It is easy to agree that being accused of fraud hardly inspires confidence in clients; it is equally easy, and tempting, to jibe that if one, even an accountant and financial adviser, lies down with dogs, one may end up with fleas.

In this, latter, regard, it would be interesting to see Mr Grier's client list, and an indication of the type, and amount, of business undertaken with each. 

For example, If I knew that my financial adviser and/or accountant had a client list that embraced , for the most part, Spivs-R-Us Inc. and like enterprises and enterprising fellows, I think that I would switch to another consultant, even without the Crown proffering charges. 

 

Anyway, Mr David Grier is suing for wrongful arrest, wrongful incarceration, wrongful prosecution, etc. what has become, pretty much, the standard litany of grievance from those involved in the Rangers' takeover and subsequent, deliberate, in my admttedly inexpert view, crash. 

 

There really needs to be a comprehensive, and independent, Public Inquiry.

 

Rangers arrest was career-ending, says businessman seeking damages

James Mulholland

Wednesday April 07 2021, 12.01am, The Times

Football

 

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/rangers-arrest-was-career-ending-says-businessman-seeking-damages-ff3bn6csr

 

David Grier is suing the lord advocate and the police for £7 million

 

A business consultant has told how his arrest over Craig Whyte’s takeover of Rangers was a “catastrophic” and “career-ending” moment.

David Grier was arrested in November 2014 but was later acquitted of all charges against him by a High Court judge. Grier, 60, is suing the lord advocate and the police for £7 million.

He told the Court of Session how after Police Scotland detained him his position in financial services had become tarnished and business contacts became “reluctant” to deal with him. He said that there was so much negative publicity surrounding his detention, he had to contact Google to remove information about him.

When questioned by his lawyer, Andrew Smith QC, Grier said: “Unfortunately being arrested for fraud when you work in financial services is catastrophic — it’s a career-ending moment. My connections that I had established over many, many years were suddenly not as encouraged to deal with me — for good reason because it’s very difficult to promote someone as a corporate adviser when you have a suspicion of fraud hanging over you.

“No matter how hard I tried to make that go away through various things — cleaning up Google and such things — it remains. It’s a very difficult thing to get cleansed.”

 

Grier was one of a number of men arrested during the investigation into Rangers’ financial position during the past decade and the sale of the club to Whyte.

Prosecutors claimed that he participated in a fraud with the businessman, claiming that Whyte broke the law by using cash from a firm called Ticketus to acquire the finance to buy Rangers FC. Whyte was also acquitted.

Ticketus had agreed to pay Rangers about £26.7 million in return for the future sale of season tickets at the club.

 

In February Lord Tyre concluded that prosecutors had no “probable cause” to prosecute Grier. However, the judge said there was insufficient evidence available at the stage of his ruling to conclude that prosecutors brought the case against Grier maliciously.

 

The cases brought by Grier come in the light of admissions made by the Crown in another case brought by two businessmen, David Whitehouse and Paul Clark.

Prosecutors admitted that Whitehouse and Clark had been wrongfully arrested and prosecuted. The two men sought £20.8 million from the Crown Office and Police Scotland. They settled with each receiving £10.3 million.

Last year Charles Green, the former Rangers executive, was also able to receive damages after the Crown admitted it had conducted a malicious prosecution against him.

Grier said yesterday he first became aware that he was a suspect in the fraud investigation in November 2014.

He said that police had come to his home in the south of England and he was detained and taken to Glasgow to be interviewed about the allegations.

Grier denied any wrongdoing about his involvement.

He told his lawyer that when he was involved in the sale of Rangers to Whyte, he never suspected any wrongdoing in the deal. He said he developed concerns about Whyte’s deal following the conclusion of the sale.

Grier said his concerns developed when he was involved in a “small tax case” concerning Rangers and HM Revenue and Customs and made his concerns known to HMRC on several occasions.

 

He said he had spent the past six years scrutinising legal documents about the prosecution. He said: “Some of the disclosed documents have been absolutely enlightening; some of them have been horrific in terms of what I have found.” He added that the police were incorrect in their assessment of the evidence, which they thought showed he was involved in wrongdoing. “It’s entirely unfair,” the business consultant added.

 

He also said that he was suing the BBC for its documentary The Men Who Sold the Jerseys.

Grier said that the programme, which told of allegations of wrongdoings at the club, was wrong in its claims and that he was also suing an expert who gave his opinion about Whyte’s takeover.

 

Police Scotland and the Crown Office contest the claims.

 

The hearing, which is expected to take three weeks, continues.

[Uilleam 5,948]

The Fringe has commenced early this year. 

 

"...the findings of a BBC documentary formed the “whole basis” of an ill-fated fraud investigation..."

"...the whole basis for...arresting . . . the Duff & Phelps people was based upon the Panorama programme..."
 

Wow! I see the next 'Line of Duty' script hovering tantalisingly in the air. 

 

" (DCI) Robertson was “pretty aggressive”.... "

"...(DCI) Robertson was “extremely aggressive” and ....told his client that he didn’t believe anything he had said on previous occasions to the police."

 

I didn't realise that middle class suspects in a corporate fraud investigation should be questioned gently. (And, neither, clearly, did Poileas Alba.) 

At least we know, now,  that these guys were not Freemasons, as their Third Degrees would have prepared them better for an interrogation. 

 

 

Police ‘based Rangers fraud case on BBC documentary’

James Mulholland

Friday April 09 2021, 12.01am, The Times

 

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/police-based-rangers-fraud-case-on-bbc-documentary-sb7zxfkbq

 

A senior detective told a witness that the findings of a BBC documentary formed the “whole basis” of an ill-fated fraud investigation into Rangers FC, a court has been told.

Philip Duffy, 54, a special adviser with the financial company Duff & Phelps, which assisted when the Ibrox club fell into administration, said that he had been giving a witness statement when Detective Chief Inspector Jim Robertson made the comment.

He also claimed that Robertson chanted what sounded like a Rangers song during another police interview.

 

Duffy was giving evidence on the third day of a £7 million compensation claim against police and prosecutors brought by David Grier, a business consultant who was arrested in November 2014 as he was working with Rangers but later acquitted of all charges.

Grier previously claimed that his arrest had been “career ending” as police investigated alleged criminal activity during Craig Whyte’s takeover of Rangers in 2011.

The Court of Session was told that Grier launched defamation proceedings against the BBC for its documentary The Men Who Sold the Jerseys, which is described as revealing “the scandal which brought Rangers FC to its knees”.

 

Duffy’s witness statement, which was read aloud to the court, said: “At the end, I remember [Robertson] remarked

“I thought this was strange behaviour. I thought it was strange that a criminal arrest should proceed on the basis of a television programme, especially Panorama which has some history in reporting matters incorrectly or sensationally.”

 

Duffy told the court that he thought Robertson chanted what appeared to be a Rangers song during his third interview at a police station in London which lasted six hours. “It sounded like a football song. I think the words ‘the Big House’ was mentioned,” he said. “I didn’t realise what it was at the time. It just sounded like a football chant.

“I vaguely remember something about ‘the Big House’ and I didn’t know what that meant until I spoke to somebody and they said Rangers fans refer to Ibrox as ‘the Big House’. It was just bizarre.”

 

Paul Smith, 54, was also interviewed as a witness by Robertson in November 2015. Smith, a managing director for Duff & Phelps, said Robertson was “pretty aggressive”.

“He said ‘We’ve seen you a number of times. I need you to tell me the truth. I need for you to tell me about your involvement in the matter and if you don’t you and your mates are going to prison for the next ten years.’”

Smith said he had been “100 per cent” truthful in his dealings with the police. He added: “It came as an absolute surprise and a complete shock to me.”

He said his solicitor Michael Rainford was alarmed. “There was a threat that they would come at six o’clock in the morning and arrest me,” he said.

Rainford told the court that Robertson was “extremely aggressive” and that he told his client that he didn’t believe anything he had said on previous occasions to the police.

 

Grier was one of a number of men arrested during the investigation into Rangers’ financial position during the past decade and the sale of the club to Whyte. Prosecutors claimed that he participated in a fraud with the businessman, claiming that Whyte broke the law by using cash from a firm called Ticketus to acquire the finance to buy Rangers FC. Whyte was also acquitted.

Ticketus had agreed to pay Rangers about £26.7 million in return for the future sale of season tickets at the club.

 

In February Lord Tyre concluded that prosecutors had no “probable cause” to prosecute Grier. However, the judge said there was insufficient evidence to conclude that prosecutors brought the case against Grier maliciously. The hearing continues.

 

[the gunslinger 3,366]

the big house is prison surely. 

[Uilleam 5,948]

11 minutes ago, the gunslinger said:

the big house is prison surely. 

I think so, too

Big Hoose = Barlinnie.

[the gunslinger 3,366]

45 minutes ago, Uilleam said:

I think so, too

Big Hoose = Barlinnie.

definitely. this guys testimony rather shows why the police didn't believe a word. 

[RANGERRAB 3,680]

I’d doubt very much if Grier’s arrest simply proceeded the BBC documentary ‘the men who sold the jerseys’ as he suggests

 

you didn’t need to be a legal or financial expert to think what went on at Rangers was highly dubious during the entire period from Whyte ‘buying’ the club  from Murray in 2011 until Green acquired the club & its assets for £5.5m in 2012

Edited April 9, 2021 by RANGERRAB

[Uilleam 5,948]

Court update:

 

Grier's case is that he was railroaded by the Crown.

Mulholland claims his hands were 'not on the tiller', although he knew the prosecution would not be plain sailing.

Mulholland throws J Keegan, QC, who was in the van, under a bus.

 

Ship of fools.

 

That's about it. 

Oh, Lord Mulholland is a Zoomer, apparently. 

 

 

 

Prosecutor denies having ‘hand on tiller’ of botched Rangers FC inquiry

James Mulholland

Saturday April 10 2021, 12.01am, The Times

Lord Mulholland told a court that he had a limited role in investigating claims around Rangers

 

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/prosecutor-denies-having-hand-on-tiller-of-botched-rangers-fc-inquiry-3lfwbwcpv

 

A former lord advocate has denied having his “hand on the tiller” of the ill-fated fraud investigation into the takeover of Rangers FC that has cost police and prosecutors millions of pounds in compensation.

Lord Mulholland, now a High Court judge, said his role in the affair had been limited and that other Crown lawyers were behind key decisions into an investigation into allegations of wrongdoing at Rangers.

He was giving evidence on the fourth day of proceedings brought to the Court of Session by the consultant David Grier, who is seeking £7 million from police and prosecutors for his “wrongful arrest” after Rangers went into administration.

 

Grier was acquitted of all charges but says his arrest in November 2014 was “career ending”. Police were investigating alleged criminality during Craig Whyte’s takeover of Rangers in 2011.

Grier, 60, is suing the present lord advocate, James Wolffe QC, and Police Scotland, claiming that they had no evidence to justify the arrest or charge. He is also suing the chief constable of Police Scotland. Both police and prosecutors are contesting the action.

 

Lawyers for Grier said that Lord Malcolm, another judge who heard evidence about the Rangers investigation, had concluded that Mulholland was a key player in directing inquiries. Wolffe’s representatives said that Mulholland had had his hands “on the tiller” throughout.

Andrew Smith QC, for Grier, asked Mulholland: “Just to be clear, in a hearing before Lord Malcolm, where I appeared . . . Lord Malcolm repeated that phrase to me in court — ‘hands on the tiller’.

“So can you tell me whether you consider it correct or incorrect if it’s being represented that your hands were on the tiller throughout the inquiry?”

Mulholland, 61, replied that his role was advisory. “It’s not a phrase I would use. The direction of the prosecution was run by Jim Keegan [ QC] and by the prosecution team,” he said, adding: “I didn’t have day to day involvement in it but I was available.”

Mulholland also told the court that he appreciated that the investigation was “high profile” and that he wanted it to be properly resourced.

“I knew from experience how large cases require resources and I also knew that resources were finite. I went for additional funding to the Scottish government to fund the Rangers inquiry,” he said.

Documents cited by Mulholland as evidence of his limited involvement inclued minutes prepared by a Crown lawyer who told him there was enough evidence to prosecute the men, who would go on to be acquitted.

Mulholland said he had reservations, telling the video hearing: “I said to her at a meeting, ‘is there not a danger that this is making the case overly complex?’ ”

 

Grier was one of several men arrested during the investigation into Rangers’ financial position during the past decade and the sale of the club to Whyte. Prosecutors claimed that Grier participated in a fraud with the businessman to finance his takeover of the club. Whyte was also acquitted.

In February Lord Tyre concluded that prosecutors had no “probable cause” to prosecute Grier. However, the judge said there was insufficient evidence to conclude that prosecutors brought the case maliciously.

 

Grier’s hearing before Lord Tyre continues on Tuesday.

 

His action follows admissions by the Crown that the businessmen David Whitehouse and Paul Clark had been wrongfully arrested and prosecuted. The two sought a combined payout of £20.8 million from the Crown Office and Police Scotland, settling for £10.3 million plus legal costs, which are thought to have hit £3 million each.

In November the Crown admitted liability for a malicious fraud prosecution of the former Rangers executive Charles Green, who went to court seeking £20 million. Whitehouse and Clark have asked Green to give evidence in a separate case in the Rangers fallout.