A former Celtic director appeared in court yesterday on charges relating to a multi-million pound fraud.
Dominic Keane, 55, who was also chairman of Livingston FC, appeared in private at Dundee Sheriff Court yesterday on a number of charges which allege that he formed a multi-million pound fraud scheme over a five-year period while employed as a corporate banking manager at the Royal Bank of Scotland in Dundee.
Mr Keane, who gave his occupation as unemployed, made no plea or declaration. Sheriff Grant McCulloch granted him bail.
Mr Keane was arrested at his home in Glasgow at the weekend and charged with the £2.3m fraud, which allegedly occurred at the RBS in Dundee's High Street between October 1, 1999 and January 31, 2005. He left the court without making any comment yesterday.
His solicitor Maurice Smyth said: "He has no comment to make. He's still pretty shaken up."
It is understood that Mr Keane handed himself in to a Glasgow police station on Sunday at 8pm. It is believed he was detained in police cells overnight and transferred to Dundee by road on Monday night under the escort of Tayside Police officers who had travelled to Glasgow.
Mr Keane is best known for his involvement in Scottish football, first as a director with Celtic and then as chairman of Livingston.
His links with the Celtic boardroom began around the time that his older brother Edmund Keane, 60, made several million pounds after building up their carpet empire Colonel Gees and selling it on.
In the 1990s Dominic Keane was instrumental in helping to oust the former Celtic board run by the Kelly and White dynasties. He played a pivotal role in the Celtic for Change revolution, securing a takeover of the club led by Canadian-based exiled Scottish entrepreneur Fergus McCann.
Mr Keane was rewarded with a seat on the board of the Parkhead club but after becoming secretary/director he resigned after three-and-a-half years in protest at the removal of his great friend and business partner Willie Haughey, from the Celtic board.
Mr Keane became the new owner and chairman of Livingston in 1998 and channelled all his energies into building the then second division side into a force in Scottish football.
His family was astonished that the former Celtic diehard, who was lifted over the Parkhead turnstiles as a child, went on to regard the West Lothian club as his first team and Celtic as his second choice.
Former Scots hospital porter John McGuinness, who scooped a £10m jackpot in the lottery in 1996, was also persuaded to pour money into the club in 1998 even though he was not a fan and was an avid Celtic supporter.
The club, formerly known as Meadowbank Thistle, enjoyed a run of 26 successive games without defeat following Mr McGuinness's commitment. It rose through two divisions to the Scottish Premier League and also won the CIS Cup in 2004.
However, during the cup run the club suffered a financial crisis.
Irish businessman Pearse Flynn bought out Mr Keane in 2004 after the club went into administration owing £7m. Mr Keane's holiday firm, Strathmore Travel - which traded as Dr Holiday - also called liquidators in days later.
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