Mission Impossible: The truth about the Rangers fakeover starring Ethan Hunt and the brother of an ex-Man Utd boss

Mr Moyes was the middle man in a deal between former Rangers owner Sir David Murray and two businessmen – English-based Rangers fan Ian Anderson and a Dutch national – who were eyeing his controlling stake seven years ago.

Anderson, who was serving a seven year directorship ban from running UK companies, introduced a bizarrely named third party into the deal: Ethan Hunt – a businessman who was apparently blessed with the same name as the suave action hero played by Tom Cruise in the Mission Impossible series.

The would-be buyout came a full year before Craig Whyte’s deal with Sir David Murray to buy the club for £1, which included a commitment to pay off an £18 million debt owed by Rangers FC to Lloyds Banking Group.

Anderson spearheaded a firm called Protocol International – which operated under the slogan “We are the people” (a phrase not unfamiliar to Rangers fans) – that, as part of a three-strong consortium, claimed it would plough up to £30 million into the Ibrox club.

Sir David Murray would assume the role of president and legendary gaffer Walter Smith would be retained as manager.

The deal was progressing but collapsed when Rangers executives discovered that a proof of funding letter from Belgian bank KBC on behalf of Anderson's consortium had been faked.

While detectives at Police Scotland confirmed they were made aware of the attempt to con the Rangers board, no formal investigation was launched because a complaint was never made.

KBC refused to discuss whether police had become involved at the time, saying only: "KBC is not in a habit of commenting on individual files. However, we can state that KBC has taken all necessary measures and has fulfilled all legal obligations. "

The would-be buyout came a full year before Craig Whyte's deal with Sir David Murray to buy the club for £1. Whyte’s deal included a commitment to pay off the £18 million debt Rangers had with Lloyds Banking Group.

Mr Anderson sold his deal as part of a consortium of three investors, including himself, based in Spain, Holland and Italy, who wanted to plough £20m to £30m over three to five years on players.

Mr Anderson had claimed he and a group of other anonymous businessmen with "a banking background" included one who was said to be a life-long Rangers supporter.

He said that if the club rejected their deal, they would consider putting their money behind a supporters trust's bid for the club.

He told the Herald at the time : "I think if the bank know people are offering serious money to take £31m in debt out of it, they are going to grab Murray International by the short and curlies and insist they take it."

But Mr Anderson had a chequered past

He was one of two directors of an investment company called Victoria Fintrade which, according to a regulatory investigation, accepted £3 million in fees and insurance deposits for projects in advance for arranging funding packages for clients without ever coming through with the finance.

When winding up proceedings commenced against Victoria Fintrade in July 2003, they owed more than £3.5m and left behind a trail of defunct multi-million pound development projects. They included a $750m sports resort and indoor ski mountain in Calverton, the home of the tallest building on Long Island, USA.

The Insolvency Service had decided to apply for a directorship ban on the directors by mid-July 2004. Mr Anderson's seven year directorship ban kicked in in March, 2006, four years before the bid for Rangers.

The Insolvency Service said about the directorship ban that Mr Anderson, who was director and company secretary of the company, was judged to have allowed VFL to conduct its business "with a lack of commercial probity".

“It was improper of Mr Anderson to continue to seek new processing fees and insurance deposits from new clients when VFL had failed to provide funding to earlier clients....” it said.

Mr Anderson, from Nottingham, was then identified as president and chief executive of Protocol, based in Mojacar, Spain and had an aim to secure loans of 10m euros and upwards. His website profile at the time described him as Dr Ian P Anderson and described how he was a member of the world's largest anti-fraud organization, the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners. What he did not divulge was his involvement at director level of some 20 companies which dissolved, including his time with Victoria Fintrade.

The Protocol website said at the time that loans were [underwritten ? ] "with available funds of the company through legal, clean and clear funds placed with us by a consortium of private investors, banks and insurance companies".

A spokesman for Murray International said at the time: “I can confirm an approach was made and due diligence was carried out on both the parties involved and the information presented and it became clear that the information was absolutely not genuine. The decision was obviously taken not to pursue the approach.”

A source close to Sir David then added: “There is thankfully no question of any money changing hands. Sir David does due diligence on both the source and the parties involved. Proof of funds is the first thing that is normally done.

“It would not be difficult to go to the bank to confirm that the letter was genuine and authentic. That’s a first step. We don’t understand how they think they could get away with it.”

At the Craig Whyte fraud trial which concluded on Monday with a not guilty verdict, the jury heard Kenny Moyes had “let down gently” by Sir David’s advisers after it appeared the football agent had been duped by the group.

Another key adviser to Sir David – Michael McGill – earlier told the trial how this bid was kicked out after it turned out the bank letter was fraudulent.