CRAIG Whyte is the only man accused of offences in the Rangers fraud trial, with charges relating to a conspiracy to commit serious organised crime involving oldco administrators and the former club secretary falling.
Of the 15 charges on an original indictment, six had remained at Friday's preliminary hearing with allegations relating to the alleged fraudulent acquisition of the club by Charles Green’s Sevco consortium in 2012 dropped.
Whyte, the former Rangers owner appeared at the High Court in Glasgow on Friday for a preliminary hearing, with charges remaining relating only to his £1 takeover of the club from former owner David Murray in May, 2011 and the business's fall into administration in February, 2012.
The High Court heard that the Crown intend to revised the charges against Whyte.
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It was confirmed that allegations against former Rangers chief executive Charles Green, 63, and former finance chief Imran Ahmad, 46, have been dropped.
But the High Court has heard that Crown counsel are considering the position in relation to Green, the former Rangers chief executive.
The time limit on fresh charges expires on September 2.
At the High Court in Glasgow it was confirmed that there will be no further proceedings against David Whitehouse, David Grier and Paul Clark, who worked for Rangers administrators Duff and Phelps and former club secretary Gary Withey, who worked for Whyte's London law firm, Collyer Bristow and advised Mr Whyte during his takeover. Various charges against them had been dropped at previous legal hearings.
The original 15 charges in the case had covered fraud and conspiracy surrounding Whyte's purchase of Rangers and the buying of the club's liquidated assets for £5.5 million by the Sevco consortium four months after the business fell into administration in Feburary, 2012.
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Advocate depute Bill McVicar said in saying the Crown were considering the position in relation to Green: “I think it's fair to say any proceedings relating to Mr Green would be dealt with separately. Any proceedings against Mr Ahmad would be dealt with, with Mr Green.”
Off the original charge sheet is an allegation that Green appropriated for his own use and purposes the sum of £5.5 million which he had obtained by fraud and that he purchased the "business and assets of the club through its corporate entity Sevco Scotland Limited with money provided by investors to Sevco 5088 Limited without their knowledge and agreement."
Also dropped are allegations of fraud and a conspiracy to commit serious organised crime over the Sevco purchase of the club's assets for a sum below its true market value depriving the creditors of rightful sums due to them.
Mr Whyte was charged on the original indictment with illegally obtaining a total of £28,262,094 from ticket company Ticketus over the rights to future season tickets to fraudulently persuade representatives of Mr Murray that he had the means to purchase Rangers.
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It is alleged he breached the Companies Act 2006 by using a proportion of the club's prospective income from the sale of the season tickets to repay a bank debt due by the club and to fund the acquisition of the club.
He faced a charge of failing to disclose a directorship ban to induce the Rangers board to consider and accept that he was a fit and proper person takeover the club.
Mr Whyte also faced allegations of intending to defraud creditors as he failed to pay VAT, PAYE and National Insurance and other debts as the business fell into insolvency, with a view to buying it back free of debt.
David Whitehouse (left) and Paul Clark said they had consistently argued the charges brought against them were unfounded and are considering what further action to take to address reputational damage.
The duo said the prosecution “should never have been brought”.
In a statement Mr Whitehouse and Mr Clark said: “On 14 February 2012, David Whitehouse and Paul Clark were appointed as joint administrators of Rangers Football Club.
“For reasons that were never made clear to the administrators, the Crown decided to bring criminal charges against them in late 2014.
“On Friday 14 November 2014, both Mr Whitehouse and Mr Clark were arrested, held in a police station for the weekend, and taken to court.
"This process was repeated in September 2015. From the outset, both Mr Whitehouse and Mr Clark have emphatically denied all allegations of criminal conduct against them. With the assistance of their lawyers, they have consistently argued that the Crown's charges against them were entirely without foundation.
“At a hearing in February 2016, the Crown finally accepted the defence position in relation to the majority of the charges brought against the administrators. The remaining two charges were then dismissed by the court. Since then, the defence has repeatedly asked the Crown to confirm that the case against David Whitehouse and Paul Clark is at an end.
“That has at last been confirmed.
“This brings the proceedings against David Whitehouse and Paul Clark to an end. They are no longer the subject of any investigations or allegations.
“David Whitehouse and Paul Clark are relieved at the outcome. They are grateful to their families, friends, colleagues and legal teams for their support during a very difficult period. They will now be considering what further steps might be open to them to address the damage caused to their reputations and careers by a prosecution which should never have been brought.
A spokesperson for Duff & Phelps commented: “We are pleased with the Court's decision to drop all charges against David Grier, David Whitehouse and Paul Clark. This enables them to return to the business full time. We welcome them back and look forward to their contributions.”
Whitehouse and Clark had faced a number of allegations including conspiring with Whyte, Green and former Rangers finance director Imran Ahmad to defraud the club's creditors of funds and assets.
It was also alleged in this charge the pair allowed Whyte, Green and Ahmad to acquire the club at "significantly below the true market value".
The charge claimed Ahmad (above) paid Clark and Whitehouse an exclusivity fee of £200,000 as the joint administrators of oldco Rangers.
The Duff and Phelps pair had also been accused of not disclosing the identity of a "person engaged in money laundering".
It was also alleged in the original indictment that Grier together with Whyte, Clark, Whitehouse and Withey, were knowingly parties to "making the administration of the club inevitable" through failure to pay debts, and also used £6m in money from a firm called Ticketus to ensure Duff & Phelps became administrators in order to facilitate the sale back of a debt-free Rangers to Whyte.
A further preliminary hearing in the case against Whyte is scheduled to take place at the High Court in Glasgow next month.
Craig Whyte appearing at an earlier hearing
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