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

[Uilleam 5,948]

"Compensation in Rangers case excessive, claims MP"

 

MacAskill's eyes, finally, water. 

 

Compensation in Rangers case excessive, claims MP

Kieran Andrews, Scottish Political Editor

Saturday January 15 2022, 12.01am, The Times

Football

 

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/compensation-in-rangers-case-excessive-claims-mp-n9rq5r7h6

 

Compensation paid to business experts wrongly arrested in the botched Rangers fraud investigation was almost 70 times more generous than similar “malicious prosecution” cases in England, new research has revealed.

David Whitehouse and Paul Clark, of Duff & Phelps, a global financial consultancy firm, were arrested in 2014 in relation to allegations of fraud linked to the Ibrox club’s financial collapse and subsequent sale. They were cleared of all charges.

Whitehouse and Clark, both 56, received a settlement worth more than £24 million and an apology from James Wolffe QC, the lord advocate at the time, after the Crown Office admitted their prosecution was “malicious”. This included £10.5 million each in damages, plus legal costs of at least £3 million.

Wolffe also admitted Charles Green, the former Rangers chief executive, and a former director, Imran Ahmad, should never have been prosecuted, with Green receiving more than £6 million in compensation plus legal costs.

Research carried out by the House of Commons for Kenny MacAskill, the former Scottish justice secretary, found that comparable cases south of the border appeared not to pay nearly as much.

 

It highlighted the case of Jonathan Rees, who was one of three men charged with the murder of a private investigator, who took action against the Metropolitan Police.

Rees lost an appeal to increase his award of £155,000 after seeking damages for distress, humiliation, anxiety and loss of liberty as well as aggravated and exemplary damages. His co-accused Glenn Vian also received £155,000, while Garry Vian was paid £104,000 after they won their malicious prosecution action against the Met.

 

MacAskill, now an MP for the Alba Party, said that the money paid out in the “white-collar” Rangers case also “dwarfs what’s paid to victims in Scotland whether in related matters or personal injury cases”.

He called for an explanation of why so much was given to those in the Rangers case. “An extraordinary amount of public money has been paid out,” MacAskill said. “It seems significantly more than in cases south of the border.”

 

Russell Findlay, Scottish Conservative community safety spokesman, said that an inquiry into the bungled Rangers investigation “must leave no stone unturned”. He added: “People deserve to know how these figures were calculated, why innocent men were hounded by the state and who is responsible for this costly debacle.”

 

The Court of Session ruled this week that the police investigation into David Grier, 60, also of the consultancy firm, had been riven with “incompetence” and a “lack of professionalism” but he had not been prosecuted maliciously. He had launched a £9 million damages claim against Police Scotland and the lord advocate. He said he would appeal against the decision.

 

Almost £40 million has so far been paid to settle claims made by businessmen who were arrested and faced “malicious prosecution”. The final cost to the taxpayer is expected to rise significantly, with Duff & Phelps seeking considerable redress for damage to its reputation. A public inquiry has been commissioned into the scandal.

 

A spokesperson for the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service said: “The damages paid in this case reflect the circumstances of the pursuers as high-earning individuals.”

 

[Uilleam 5,948]

First the Polis, then the Crown Office, now the BBC...

Any other publicly funded organisations that they can target?

I suppose it beats working.

 

BBC targeted in multi-million pound damages action over Rangers doc that sparked failed fraud case

By Martin Williams  @Martin1WilliamsSenior News Reporter

PREMIUM

Paul Clark, David Whitehouse and David Grier

 

     2 comments

 

THE BBC are facing a multi-million-pound defamation action over a documentary that sparked a failed Rangers fraud investigation and led to malicious prosecutions.

Three business turnaround experts from financial consultancy firm Duff and Phelps are expected to pursue the claim later this year which has been lying dormant for over six years.

 

The rest of this article is behind a paywall. 

 

https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/homenews/19851046.bbc-targeted-multi-million-pound-damages-action-rangers-doc-sparked-failed-fraud-case/

[compo 7,055]

1 hour ago, Uilleam said:

First the Polis, then the Crown Office, now the BBC...

Any other publicly funded organisations that they can target?

I suppose it beats working.

 

BBC targeted in multi-million pound damages action over Rangers doc that sparked failed fraud case

 

By Martin Williams  @Martin1WilliamsSenior News Reporter

PREMIUM

Paul Clark, David Whitehouse and David Grier

 

     2 comments

 

THE BBC are facing a multi-million-pound defamation action over a documentary that sparked a failed Rangers fraud investigation and led to malicious prosecutions.

Three business turnaround experts from financial consultancy firm Duff and Phelps are expected to pursue the claim later this year which has been lying dormant for over six years.

 

The rest of this article is behind a paywall. 

 

https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/homenews/19851046.bbc-targeted-multi-million-pound-damages-action-rangers-doc-sparked-failed-fraud-case/

Good 

[RANGERRAB 3,680]

2 hours ago, Uilleam said:

First the Polis, then the Crown Office, now the BBC...

Any other publicly funded organisations that they can target?

I suppose it beats working.

 

BBC targeted in multi-million pound damages action over Rangers doc that sparked failed fraud case

 

By Martin Williams  @Martin1WilliamsSenior News Reporter

PREMIUM

Paul Clark, David Whitehouse and David Grier

 

     2 comments

 

THE BBC are facing a multi-million-pound defamation action over a documentary that sparked a failed Rangers fraud investigation and led to malicious prosecutions.

Three business turnaround experts from financial consultancy firm Duff and Phelps are expected to pursue the claim later this year which has been lying dormant for over six years.

 

The rest of this article is behind a paywall. 

 

https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/homenews/19851046.bbc-targeted-multi-million-pound-damages-action-rangers-doc-sparked-failed-fraud-case/

Those being pursued for litigation are no friends of ours

[Uilleam 5,948]

Bugeyes' turn.

 

It must have been galling for Mr Craig Whyte to see his erstwhile friends, colleagues, and co-conspirators, picking up money for nothing. Hence he has reappeared, and, seemingly, seeks his share of free money from the Lord Advocate's puggy machine. 

I have to say that he demonstrates more front that Blackpool - more front even than Sturgeon, although that may be hard to believe. 

I suppose that you don't get "wealth off the radar" by being backward at coming forward.

 

 

Craig Whyte set to sue police for £10m over botched Rangers inquiry

Marc Horne

Thursday July 28 2022, 12.00am, The Times

 

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/craig-whyte-set-to-sue-police-for-10m-over-botched-rangers-inquiry-s0h7scrp7

 

The total cost to the taxpayer of the failed police investigation into the takeover of Rangers FC is set to rise further, as the businessman Craig Whyte seeks £10 million in compensation.

The botched fraud investigation into the collapse and sale of the club has triggered a public inquiry. More than £40 million has been paid out to people who were prosecuted maliciously.

Whyte, 51, who bought Rangers for £1 from Sir David Murray in 2011, was charged but later cleared. Six other men were charged before being exonerated. They included David Grier, David Whitehouse and Paul Clark of Duff and Phelps, the multinational finance firm that managed Rangers’ affairs after it entered administration in 2012.

 

The Court of Session paved the way for significant compensation settlements in 2019 when it ruled that the lord advocate did not have immunity from claims of malicious prosecution.

 

Whitehouse and Clark have already secured £21 million in damages, plus £3 million in legal costs, from the Crown Office.

They were arrested in 2014 after their firm’s offices were raided but the charges were dropped.

The pair also received an apology from James Wolffe QC, the lord advocate at the time, for a “very serious failure in the system of prosecution”.

 

Last year Charles Green, a businessman who went on to become chief executive of Rangers received an out-of-court settlement of

£6.4 million for being wrongly prosecuted. 

 

The Scottish Sun reported that Whyte is preparing to sue Police Scotland. It quoted a source who was close to him as saying: “Mr Whyte’s been biding his time and watching how the other cases pan out. The wheels are in motion and 12 months is permitted to progress the claim to the next level.

“His team has always said Police Scotland and the Crown had nothing on him and like the others he should never have been arrested. The only difference is Mr Whyte went to trial where he was cleared.

“This doesn’t affect his right to claim compensation. He believes he’s entitled to the same as Mr Whitehouse and Mr Clark.”

Police Scotland said any civil claim pursued by Whyte would be “fully defended”.

 

Duff & Phelps, now renamed Kroll, which employs 5,000 people in 30 countries, has begun legal action against the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service for reputational damage. “They are seeking £80 million,” a source close to the case said.

 

Last month The Times reported that Detective Chief Inspector Jim Robertson and Detective Chief Inspector Jacqueline O’Neill, who led the botched investigation, travelled to New York, Ohio and South Africa at taxpayers’ expense after arranging meetings that were said to be “wholly unnecessary”.

 

A complaint involving Sheriff Lindsay Wood, a former Rangers shareholder who granted more than 20 warrants during the inquiry, is also being investigated.

 

The Crown Office has said it cannot comment on an active case.

 

Comments for this article have been turned off

[Franc Ergs 1,657]

Craig Whyte still keeps being referred to as a 'Businessman' 😂 .

[compo 7,055]

He might as well I just wonder if the season ticket holders could sue as well for having our feelings hurt 😢 

[RANGERRAB 3,680]

8 hours ago, Franc Ergs said:

Craig Whyte still keeps being referred to as a 'Businessman' 😂 .

He is a businessman. A fraudulent one. For some reason the CPS were unable to prove his Rangers takeover was illegal in that he duped ticketus into funding it and Murray let him do it.

[Bill 13,717]

Craig Whyte was and it seems still is a distraction.

 

I find it very difficult to believe a chiseller like Whyte, with no significant track record in business to his name, can suddenly sidle up to Rangers and convince a man like David Murray that he's a credible buyer. That simply doesn't happen in the real world and certainly not to someone like Murray, who surrounds himself with such high-calibre corporate advisors that being 'duped" isn't even a possibility. I've been round those tables, albeit on a smaller scale, and I know the extent of the diligence that's conducted on people like Whyte - Murray would have known when Whyte took a piss, let alone how much money he had and where it came from.

 

The only conclusion I draw about Craig Whyte is that, for whatever reason, he was willing to be a pawn in someone else's game, someone far beyond Whyte's pay grade. I imagine Whyte serves his purpose every time the spotlight is shone on him rather than the real culprits and it's worth considering that had he been convicted and jailed, the price of his ongoing silence would have soared. It's likely we'll never get near the truth of what went on but I think Whyte was the least of it.

 

 

Edited July 30, 2022 by Bill

[compo 7,055]

27 minutes ago, Bill said:

Craig Whyte was and it seems still is a distraction.

 

I find it very difficult to believe a chiseller like Whyte, with no significant track record in business to his name, can suddenly sidle up to Rangers and convince a man like David Murray that he's a credible buyer. That simply doesn't happen in the real world and certainly not to someone like Murray, who surrounds himself with such high-calibre corporate advisors that being 'duped" isn't even a possibility. I've been round those tables, albeit on a smaller scale, and I know the extent of the diligence that's conducted on people like Whyte - Murray would have known when Whyte took a piss, let alone how much money he had and where it came from.

 

The only conclusion I draw about Craig Whyte is that, for whatever reason, he was willing to be a pawn in someone else's game, someone far beyond Whyte's pay grade. I imagine Whyte serves his purpose every time the spotlight is shone on him rather than the real culprits and it's worth considering that had he been convicted and jailed, the price of his ongoing silence would have soared. It's likely we'll never get near the truth of what went on but I think Whyte was the least of it.

 

Now it’s time for his payday by way of the Scottish government