Former Rangers chief executive Charles Green has refused to give evidence in a £56.8 million action brought by a financial firm over claims Ibrox should have been sold to pay off debt.
The Court of Session has head that Mr Green has been unwilling to give as statement after being called in by the club’s former administrators, David Whitehouse and Paul Clark, over allegations they should have sold off the stadium and other assets while in control of the club when it went into financial meltdown ten years ago.
Mr Green will not now appear as a witness in the case.
BDO, the liquidators of oldco Rangers FC, are seeking the money from the club’s former administrators of Duff and Phelps who have been accused of failing to effectively manage the finances of the club.
Mr Whitehouse and Mr Clark
Lawyers for BDO which initiated legal action against the duo claim that Duff and Phelps could have raised more money for creditors after the company which owned the club went into administration in February, 2012 under the stewardship of former club owner Craig Whyte.
It is understood that BDO are arguing there should have been a sale of property including Ibrox to generate more money for creditors.
BDO were said to have had valued Ibrox on the open market at £25m.
The financial collapse left thousands of unsecured creditors out of pocket, including more than 6000 loyal fans who bought £7.7m worth of debenture seats at Ibrox.
Creditors also ranged from corporate giants such as Coca-Cola to a picture framer in Bearsden and a lady called Susan Thomson who ran a face-painting business and was owed £40.
Four months later, the company's business and assets were sold to the Sevco consortium fronted by Mr Green for £5.5 million.
Kenny McBrearty, QC, for BDO told Lord Tyre said that he had hoped to add Charles Green to a witness list but added: "As it is, Mr Green has not been willing to give us a statement so I don't need to insist on him being added to the list."
The court was also told that former Rangers manager Ally McCoist was "unwilling to be in contact for the purposes of giving a statement" but that he may still be called as a witness.
Former Rangers striker Steven Naismith was added to the witness list after he gave a short statement.
Lawyers for BDO wanted the case to be held in person because it was felt that there is a "disadvantage" in cross-examination.
Mr McBrearty has said that he did not find an eight-week hearing using a video conferencing “an appetising prospect”.
But Lord Tyre said he could not override existing protocols and that there would be a remote hearing to decide the case.
Mr Whitehouse and Clark were appointed by the Court of Session after the taxman took Rangers to court for £18m of unpaid tax owed to them since Craig Whyte's takeover of the club.
The two went on to sell the business and assets to Mr Green before BDO was appointed to liquidate the old company.
The three men were later among seven prosecuted over to fraud allegations in the wake of businessman Craig Whyte’s purchase of Rangers from Sir David Murray for £1 in May 2011 and its subsequent sale, before a judge dismissed the charges in June, 2016.
Mr Whitehouse and Mr Clark raised a multimillion-pound action against the police and prosecutors last year. Prosecutors admitted much of the case against them was “malicious” and conducted “without probable cause”.
A settlement estimated to be around £24 million was agreed “extra-judicially” in their malicious prosecution case against the Lord Advocate and the Chief Constable.
BDO previously confirmed that they had sought detailed explanations regarding "certain aspects" of the strategy implemented by the joint administrators and a "substantive response" and said they "continued to liaise closely... in considering the further actions in relation to these investigations".
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel