NEARLY £400,000 of public money has been spent on legal advice and "litigation support" over civil cases against the Lord Advocate connected to malicious prosecutions in the collapsed Rangers fraud probe.
The Scottish Government has committed to an inquiry into the failings which has already led to more than £30 million in damages and legal fees, with that figure estimated to potentially rise to over £100m.
The £399,840 'quick quote' contract has been given by the Scottish Government to Teneo Restructuring Limited for "litigation support in relation to a recent civil action against the Lord Advocate". It was the only quote received.
The Scottish Government would only say that it is in "relation to the prosecutions of certain individuals associated with Rangers FC. We’re asking for independent external expertise, and all costs will be subject to public finance and accountability rules."
Last month it emerged that the Crown Office had spent £1.4m in hiring legal help for its defence of the fiasco.
READ MORE: Rangers malicious fraud case scandal sees taxpayer face over £110m bill
In February, Teneo, a strategic consulting firm which advises manyh of the UK's biggest companies bought the restructuring arm of Deloitte.
Backed by private equity firm CVC Capital Partners, Teneo has been acting as administrator to the former retail empire of Sir Philip Green.
Teneo's PR states that it can help companies and governments "dramatically change the public's understanding of a company's role in high-stakes litigation" through a "well run communications strategy".
The firm adds that it works with clients to have a "more complete understanding of how to manage the matter on an ongoing basis, as well as the implications for the company and its stakeholders", as well as ensuring the result of legal action is "positioned accurately, in the context of significant scrutiny".
More than £30m in settlements has been paid out so far to individuals over the wrongful prosecutions.
Among the beneficiaries were finance experts David Whitehouse and Paul Clark who were arrested in 2014 after they were appointed administrators of the company that ran Rangers, which fell into administration in 2012.
They were among those pursued by police and the Crown amid recriminations over Craig Whyte’s 2011 Rangers takeover, and the club’s 2012 Sevco buyout from administration by tycoon Charles Green.
Mr Whitehouse and Mr Clark settled out of court with the Crown Office in December to the tune of more than £24m with the Crown admitting a malicious prosecution.
Mr Green, whose Sevco consortium too over the club in June, 2012, also won a £6.4m payout after he and five others were charged with serious organised crime offences over the club acquisition.
Cases involving Duff and Phelps adviser David Grier, and Mr Green’s associate Imran Ahmad, are still ongoing.
In August, last year it was confirmed former Rangers director Imran Ahmad is to receive a public apology from the head of Scotland's prosecution service.
READ MORE: Rangers sold for a fifth of its 'fair value' with brand worth £16m snapped up for nothing
Mr Ahmad will also receive significant damages, and is pursuing an amount also believed to run to £30m, after he was wrongly prosecuted on fraud charges.
He was prosecuted in 2015 over the takeover of the Ibrox club in 2012 but all charges were dropped in 2018.
Court of Session judge Lord Tyre has also ruled that David Grier, a Duff and Phelps executive that there was no “probable cause” to prosecute him who is also seeking £5m damages from the Lord Advocate and £9m from Police Scotland.
And multinational finance firm Duff and Phelps, who employed Mr Whitehouse and Mr Clark is seeking £25 million for reputational damage.
The fraud case arose after the club under Mr Whyte went into administration nine months after he bought it, with debts soaring over £100m, while the team ended up relegated to the bottom rung of the Scottish football pyramid.
Five of the seven men charged in relation to Rangers fraud cases have been pursuing compensation complaints over wrongful arrest against either Police Scotland, the Crown Office or both with a collective claim now standing at nearly £100m.
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “The contract is in respect of advice sought for ongoing cases relating to the prosecutions of certain individuals associated with Rangers FC.
"It is normal for Government to seek independent external expertise for important and complex cases. All costs will be subject to public finance and accountability rules.
“The position of the Scottish Government is clear in respect of the malicious prosecutions. In February 2021, the Scottish Parliament debated the subject of an inquiry into the prosecutions and voted in favour of a judge-led inquiry and the Scottish Government is committed to this course of action. As the First Minister explained on 17 June, the exact form of inquiry will be determined once all legal proceedings in relation to the cases are concluded.”
Also charged in the conspiracy was Gary Withey, the Surrey lawyer with Collyer Bristow who advised Mr Whyte during his ill-fated takeover at Rangers ten years ago and who also saw charges dropped. He died two years ago.
Seven years ago the BDO, the liquidators of the Rangers oldco secured a £24m settlement payment from Collyer Bristow after initially launching a professional negligence claim for more than £50m.
Details of the malicious prosecutions scandal started emerging four years ago when the Herald revealed that London-based legal firm Holman Fenwick Willan, who were acting for Duff and Phelps, was awarded £500,000 costs after police and prosecutors were found by the High Court in London to have "abused state powers" by carrying out an illegal raid and seizing privileged documents in connection with the failed Rangers fraud case.
The police investigation was launched against a backdrop of the controversial nature of Mr Whyte's nine-months in charge after his 2011 takeover.
He agreed to take on Rangers' financial obligations, which included an £18m bank debt, a potential £72m 'big tax case' bill, a £2.8m "small tax case" liability, £1.7m for stadium repairs, £5m for players and £5m in working capital.
But he controversially helped fund his takeover by setting up a loan in advance from London-based investment firm Ticketus against rights to three to four years of future club season ticket sales in a bid to raise £24 million and pay off bank debt as part of a share purchase agreement with Sir David Murray.
Mr Whyte ended up being the last man standing in the fraud conspiracy case and was acquitted of taking over the club by fraud at the end of a seven-week trial four years ago.
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