DISGRACED Craig Whyte is hiding from Rangers' incensed fans in Monaco just days after he vowed not to walk away, the Sunday Herald can reveal.

But as Whyte suns himself in the land of tax avoidance, this newspaper has uncovered more details of his chequered business past and murky takeover of Rangers.

We can reveal:

l Whyte signed UK company documents when he was banned from any management role in British firms

l A source close to the administrators said Whyte may have used money from a "third party" as proof of funds before he eventually used season ticket money to buy the club.

l A past corporate offer involving Whyte was criticised by the Panel on Takeovers and Mergers over fears money was not in place.

l Whyte was behind a number of bizarre foreign online enterprises while disqualified as a director in the UK, many of them registered at a PO box in Miami, Florida.

Whyte's reign as Rangers owner is in meltdown after the club was put into administration earlier this month.

The unpaid HMRC tax bill that prompted the move is now thought to be in the region of £14 million, while the "big tax case" could add another £49m to Rangers' debt.

Whyte's stewardship appears to have been fatally undermined by the revelation that he financed the takeover by selling off around £24m of expected season ticket revenue.

The chairman was derided as a liar after he denied and then admitted selling the future income stream to London-based Ticketus.

On the controversial Ticketus deal, a source close to the administrators doubted whether the London-based firm had been Whyte's first port of call for the buyout money.

The source said Whyte may have first turned to a friend in order to reassure Sir David Murray and the bank that he had the finance available for the Rangers takeover.

He added that the friend may have provided Whyte with an "initial advance".

The takeover is now being looked at by Strathclyde Police, while the Scottish Football Association (SFA) has launched its own investigation into the crisis club.

Aspects of Whyte's chequered business history continue to dog the Motherwell-born tycoon.

A BBC documentary revealed Whyte was barred from being a director and was blocked from taking part in the "promotion, formation or management of a company" for seven years from June 2007.

However, the Sunday Herald can reveal that Whyte's clever reading of the law allowed him to play a key role in a UK firm while banned.

In 2002, British Virgin Isles-based Custom International Ltd, registered at the same BVI address as another Whyte firm, became a director of UK firm Tixway Ltd.

On the same date, Pelham Holdings, incorporated in the Bahamas, also became a Tixway director. Whyte's father Thomas was announced as another director of Tixway.

Companies House requires a senior member of a firm to sign the forms for any new director coming in. The filing that announced the father's directorship was signed by Craig Whyte "for Custom International Ltd" in June 2004.

Similarly, Tixway's dormant account in 2004 was signed by Whyte "for Pelham Holdings".

In the same year, it was Whyte again whose signature appeared on forms approving the termination of two existing Tixway directors.

This time, he signed the forms on behalf of the BVI firms.

Whyte appears to have exploited a legal loophole that allows an individual banned from acting as a director in the UK to control a British firm through a foreign entity.

A spokesman for Companies House explained: "There is nothing obvious which prohibits the person referred to acting in the way described.

"The upshot is that he is signing on behalf of a foreign company over which we have no jurisdiction, and [was] not a director in his own right on said UK company."

The foreign online enterprises that Whyte was behind while disqualified as a director in the UK were registered though a company called HTX holdings at the PO Box in Miami.

In March 2002, Whyte registered the website Libertycapital.biz at the Miami address.

His personal email at the website, ctw@libertycapital.biz, then began cropping up as the contact for a number of other websites.

Also in March 2002, Whyte registered the company London International Marketing, Inc in Nevada, using his liberty email address.

Records at the office of the Nevada Secretary of State list him as London International Marketing's president, secretary and treasurer, and give his personal address at the time as Sarasota, Florida.

In 2004, Whyte used London International Marketing Inc to register the website Leavebritain.com at the Miami PO Box.

London International later failed to file its list of company officers in Nevada, and its status is now listed as "permanently revoked".

Through an outfit called "Asset Reserve", also based at the Miami PO Box, Whyte registered the website bellavistacr.com which offered people the chance to rent a luxury ocean-front home in Punta Leona, Costa Rica.

The property could be used if a customer supplied a "non-refundable" booking fee of $200.

It also has emerged that a past corporate offer involving Whyte had been criticised by the Panel on Takeovers and Mergers over concerns the money for the deal was not in place.

In 1998, Corporate Resolve PLC announced a cash offer for the shares in a company called Focus Dynamics.

The money for the deal was to be arranged by Swiss firm First Capital, whose head of corporate finance was Whyte.

However, the Takeover Panel's report in 2001 expressed doubts that the funding was in place.

The report stated: "Mr Whyte was not, however, able to establish to the satisfaction of the Executive either that the funds were available to First Capital or that all conditions set out - had been satisfied."

It continued: "The Executive, therefore, concluded that further assurance was required as to the availability of the cash to satisfy the cash offer in full if the cash offer was to proceed."

One of the advisers behind the offer was businessman Aidan Earley, who continues to be of the Whyte's associates.

Stephen Smith, the former chairman of the Rangers Supporters' Trust, said: "Some of the former directors had legitimate concerns about Craig Whyte, and history has proven them to be correct.

"However, we've always said the primary responsibility lies with David Murray, who handed over the club to Whyte.

"It was not very diligent."

He added: "UK company law is good for owners, but useless in protecting workers or shareholders."

Whyte was unavailable for comment.