Justice for the Rangers Support

51
Justice for the Rangers Support

It cannot be denied that the past 36+ months at Ibrox have been nothing short of hell.

From being cast to the flames of the Third Division, to fan protests at board activity, to absolutely vile football, to salaries in gross excess of what was warranted both on and off the pitch, Rangers fans have seen their Club teetering on the brink of complete oblivion on several occasions but managing to just about cling onto the edge with its fingernails.

Over the past 48 hours, four men have been formally arrested/detained/charged in connection with an alleged fraudulent takeover of Rangers:

First, Craig Whyte, with his £1 theft of the Club in 2011.

Then Charles Green, with a supposed consortium of investors called Sevco in 2012.

Then the two administrators who handed the assets over to Green:

Paul Clark and David Whitehouse of Duff & Phelps.

The charges are “conspiracy and involvement in serious organised crime”. About as grim as it gets in corporate espionage.

Ibroxnoise.co.uk was on record as a major supporter of Charles Green and his intentions. Like many others, we were wrong. Plain and simply duped. Some saw through Green and suspected his credentials from the off – but many did not, and those, like us, appear to be holding their hands up to being wrong. Being wrong happens in life – when information you receive and the judgement of those you trust turns out to be misguided.

Some other individuals who backed Green still do, or are dramatically altering their tune – that is their choice, but it is not ours.

Over three years later Green and his chums find themselves in court – charged with fraud, with BDO’s due diligence bringing the alleged fraud properly to light, something the SFA were supposed to do, but frankly did not bother.

It appears, after a long, long, hellish road, Rangers supporters are finally about to get the justice they deserve, for the pain they have suffered.

Furthermore, it is not only Scottish football, and the four miscreants who put Rangers and our fans through this, but HMRC – they illegally pursued a tax case that was not even valid. That tax case brought a massive cloud over the liquidity and equity of the holding company, and it was based on complete falsehoods. As proven by a court of law.

If BDO could kindly pursue the Inland Revenue with the same fervour as they have with the four accused, that would considerably aid the removal of Rangers’ reputation from the gutter over this.

Rangers and our fans are victims of one of the biggest corporate frauds in Scottish history – perhaps the biggest. HMRC, Scottish football, Duff & Phelps, Craig Whyte, Imran Ahmad, Charles Green and even Ticketus all deserve their end of accountability in this sorry tale, as does Sir David Murray for ‘being duped’ by Whyte. As layman non-economic non-business people, most supporters had to go on trust, but Murray is supposed to be an expert in weeding out the frauds.

If Giovanni Di Stefano was right all along, why on earth would Murray fail to spot it.

Regardless, finally, we are truly seeing Justice for the Rangers support.

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51 COMMENTS

  1. i dont blame mr murray for this, i blame white green and co and i hope the bastards go down for a long time for what they did to our club and supporters, we must all now get behind our club and get back to the top,, in king our trust WATP,,

    • The 'Captain of Industry' and his pals at HBOS are every bit as much to blame. Does anyone really think that Murray was naive enough to be duped by Whyte. Somehow I doubt it!, and was Whyte not also a customer of the Bank? Murray appears to have come out of the Murray International mess very well which is something that cannot be said for the multifarious businesses and the staff that worked for them!

    • Where's Mike Ashley & his cronies , along with the upper management of Sports Direct ? Has he paid off the police , courts , judges & whomever else he needed to ? He seems to get away with owning two football clubs & this isn't something FIFA are bothered about ! Certainly the cash incentives would be a deciding factor ??

  2. well done for recognising your misplaced loyalty ,but, you were as you say not alone , kudos to you because you normally do a great job.

  3. Well said, we all can make mistakes and be miss guided, let's hope that the SFA look at their miss giving's in the same light.

  4. Sdm was not duped & you have missed one man & his employers from the accused list who kicked this all off, stand up Donald Muir & Lloyds bank, they shitting themselves that we were going to lose big tax case & demanding their 18 million back started it all, remember sir walters interview we are ran by the bank & the shockwaves that caused, so sdm can say he was duped all he wants the reality is he was told to sell to the first fuckin shyster that came along, now I am not accusing anyone but if I was one off the boys in blue that was investigating I would be taking a wee look at Lloyds bank role in this, think about if you are self employed & you turn up at your bank with 6 grand let's say your bank asks were you got the dough from, well fucking google eyes turned up with 18 million & Lloyds bank said thanks very much see you later mmmm

    • My guess is he has slinked off with a bonus from a 18 million transaction we know how these wankers work, sorry that should be bankers work, no a was correct the first time��

    • Absolutely spot on. Only thing you've missed is that HMRC is the reason nobody apart from White would buy the club and it is also the reason Lloyds Bank panicked and pressured Murray to sell.

      No Tax Case would have meant no administration, it's as simple as that, which is why I hate it when my English friends and colleagues say Rangers got found out for spending outwith their means. Spending had nothing to do with it…

  5. In addition there was an independent board tasked with looking into wee Craigie who advised he was a ghost and they could not find evidence of the necessary where with all to be a Rangers Chairman- i.e no money so how come Mr Murray was duped? Comes into the same category as "I didn't look at my contract I just signed it" What a parcel of rogues- just tell the fans anything and sadly a lot will believe it because they want it to be true.

  6. I have seen various pictures of Craig Whyte obviously altered holding up Celtic scarfs and so on. I have even saw videos of Celtic fans singing 'Craig Whytes Fe***n army'.
    If Craig Whyte gets jail time I think he will be put on the beasts wing.

  7. on the subject of hmrc what has happened in the appeal that was supposed to take four days to be heard that was in june there was a brief flurry of rumours that hmrc had lost again but nothing else

  8. I would also like BDO to pursue all miscreants mentioned vehemently as well as Lloyds Banking Group and particularly their man on the board, Donald Muir, however I do not believe they have the interests of Rangers in mind or the inclination to do so. They had Collyer Bristow in their sights for around £50 million but settled for half of that. Now if they had pursued the full amount all creditors, bond holders and shareholders would have been reimbursed and perhaps the remainder would have found its way back to its rightful home.

  9. Does this not call the whole purchase into question? Therefore does it not call validity of RIFC and the legality of their license to play football into question? The SFA has no fit and proper person test, Dave King submitted himself to scrutiny recently but football clubs have no obligation to submit persons applying for a place on their board to outside scrutiny, that is the obligation on the club's board to make sure they are 'honorable'. Was Dave King not on the board when Whyte was given permission to buy the Old Rangers? If the assets and 'history' were fraudulently acquired do they not become the property of the liquidators? After all, if you buy a stolen car you don't get to keep it if the coppers find out. You get charged with receiving stolen goods. This is going to run and run. These are genuine questions.

    • The major investigation should be into the SFA's original failure to identify that Whyte was not a fit and proper person. Other questions remain as to how far up their hind quarters Lawwell's hand was when the club was forced into the lowest division. Many wrongs were done against Rangers FC and no doubt few of these will ever be allowed to come to light.

    • IF Whyte, Green, etc. are all found guilty, what is the responsibility of the Scottish footballing authorities who allowed these people to take over Rangers? (Remember the Due Diligence??? imposed on Dave King?) What about the fines, punishments, banishment to the lower reaches of Scottish football for years which they inflicted on Rangers, all because THEY would have allowed these people in to do what they did? What about the damage to the reputation of Rangers? Even the “Big Tax Case”, for which Rangers were punished, has been shown to be without foundation even after many appeals by the HMRC.
      What about the credibility of the Scottish Press, as well as the Guardian?
      What club(s) most benefited from these punishments to Rangers? Surely, in the name of sporting integrity, these clubs will want to give back the trophies, etc. they “won” during the last few years?

    • "if you buy a stolen car you don't get to keep it"
      Correct, it is handed back to the original owner!
      Will that mean Sir D Murray that the bank forced to sell to conman Whyte?
      A whole lot of people have wronged Rangers including Keith Jackson a self-confess
      Celtic supporter @ Daily Record along with his mates Antony, Craig etc they put the boot in at every opportunity headlining Rangers should be banned from playing football ever again, one man who seems to be forgotten in the charges is Mike Ashley, he founded Green in the first instance and set about helping himself to Rangers retail outlets by putting his own men on the board of directors at our club, it would not surprise me if Ashely held all our assets!

  10. I always thought the rule of law in the UK was a man was innocent until found guilty. Yet here you are pronouncing guilt on Green when the charges against him are not even clear. Make no mistake this is not news that fans should be rejoicing in the streets at as the ramifications for Rangers could be horrendous.

    • They are all guilty that's why they have been charged ,there is a lot more to come out yet .I hope they nail all the bastards WATP LOL

  11. Great comments and I hope all involved get years ,for if was just ordinary people we would be in jail already .Two people who have not been mentioned who were there same time as Green White ,names Betts Ellis could any one tell me why they have not been interviewed by Police .

  12. Out of curiosity can the liquidation be overturned if it its found to be an act of fraud or if not surely we are entitled to compensation from spl uefa and sfa and reinstated immediately to top league

    • Yes and no. The liquidator can ask the High court for an order to return assets to original company. The court will grant it. But getting the money( assets) back is another story. It's all money for the lawyers. I have been through all this.Its unbelievable tricks lawyers use. But it suits lawyers on both sides.

  13. We as a support have to keep our focus on the great football we have been playing this season. This may be justice for us but it will go on and on. I hope Dave King has some real investment to give as nobody in their right find will invest right now. It will be up to us to spend and keep us afloat till this is all done and dusted in court.

  14. be careful what you wish for as said before does it not call validity of RIFC and the legality of their license to play football into question? Was Dave King not on the board when Whyte was given permission to buy the Old Rangers? If the assets and 'history' were fraudulently acquired do they not become the property of the liquidators? After all, if you buy a stolen car you don't get to keep it if the coppers find out. You get charged with receiving stolen goods. This is going to run and run. These are genuine questions.

    • It's possible that a court will reset all things back, as far as possible, to the time before the first offence. That would see the liquidation process halted or reversed, the football club, all other business, and assets returned to oldco, and oldco returned to David Murray and other oldco shareholders.
      Remember, it was Whyte who ran up the vast bulk of the debt owed to HMRC. It was Whyte who called in the administrators. It was the administrators who called in the liquidators.
      If Whyte acquired oldco by fraud, then he never, legally, owned oldco. Hence he had no authority to run up debts in oldco's name. Nor did he have authority to call in the administrators.
      Even if the administrators have not acted illegally, their appointment would be voided, if Whyte has acted illegally, as he had no authority to do so. If the administrators were 'in on the act' with Whyte then their appointment would not only be voided, it would be criminal. That seems to be what the police are asserting.
      All that means that the administrators had no legal authority to place oldco into the hands of the liquidators. If all of these charges stick then the likelihood is that everything will be reset to the point prior to any fraudulent sale to Whyte. The club, all other business, and assets would be returned to olco and oldco returned (virtually debt free now,) to Murray.
      In your "stolen car" analogy, the car would be returned to the legal owner NOT to any liquidators who had been illegally appointed by someone who had no authority to do so.

      All who have lost money, since Whyte's purchase, would seek redress from Whyte, Green and the administrators. That's if these parties have, indeed, been guilty of any criminal conduct. Questions that have yet to be proved, of course.

      That's my view. I would be interested to hear what others think

    • Hysterical view point completely ignoring the actual Legal perspective total and utter nonsense do people just come on here ant type pure drivel with absolutely no clue about Scottish Law ? Still peeing myself after reading this mince

    • Enlighten us Angus. Peeing your drawers tells us you might be suffering a bit from incontinence, but little else. Let's hear your take on Scottish Law, as it would apply to this matter.

  15. I don't blame david murray he was under orders from the bank as his businesss were going belly up,white saw his chance on making easy millions,wanted us to go bust,got green etc to front him ,wait and see the millions they have got stashed,if and when they go to barlinnie,theyll be straight on protection,as they are a bunch of stoat the ba,s

  16. Yeah innocent until proven guilty. Like the big tax case when HMRC denied us a cva with our creditors and forced the club into liquidation, And the EBT,s which were supposed to be dual contracts and gave us an unfair advantage and in the name of sporting integrity banished us to the 4th tier. Lord justice Smiths inquiry later found us not to have had an advantage(no apology). Two total carve ups when we were actually not guilty of either.

  17. Now don't shoot me . Did that rat Craig white commit fraud buying Rangers for a pound, or did he commit fraud later on by conning Ticketus,. What if green committed fraud by conning white, surely the assets would not revert back to white. This could turn into one big mess again, we will all have to sit tight and hope all is well.

  18. Corporately, David Murray did nothing illegal; he sold the Club for £1 plus all its debt, i.e. the buyer assumes liability for the said debt (in this case estimated at £18m). For companies running at huge losses, that is not an unusual occurrence, nor is it illegal. The Bank, also from a corporate perspective, did nothing wrong in protecting its debt. Where it did go wrong was when Whyte became involved; he was/is a Venture Capitalist (Asset Stripper to you and me) and, for the avoidance of doubt, Asset Stripping is taking company funds or assets of value while leaving behind the debts. Company directors transfer only the assets of one company to another and not the liabilities. The result is a dormant company with large liabilities that cannot be met and it has to be put into liquidation. "Fraudsters" deliberately target a company or companies to take ownership, move the assets and then put the stripped entity into liquidation. There is no real investment from such people and in some cases, they sail very close to the legal/illegal line. Under Whyte's watch, the Club failed to pay VAT (estimated at £11m) and it was this debt that finally led to administration and, ultimately, liquidation. Then, enters Green to buy a job lot for a knock-down price from the Administrators who, don't forget, were appointed by Whyte. You guys know some of the figures and some of the questions that need answering are:
    1. From the £25m borrowed from Ticketus, £18m went to the Bank; where did the balance of £7m go?
    2. Where did the £22m from the IPO go?
    3. Who really owns the Corporate Properties (i.e. the property deeds)?
    These plus many, many more will be asked by BDO via the law.
    The outcome remains to be seen but, if corporate fraud is proven, the outcome for the entity is not normally good.

  19. SDM should be arrested NOW I do not beieve for 1 minute he new nothing Scotlands finest arrest detain and hopefully charge

  20. Think we are all missing the bigger picture here, if they are guilty the asset sale to Green by D&P could be invalid and the assets seized and returned to the liquidator. I fear dark days ahead that will overshadow the last 3 years.

    • Not so. If all the parties that are charged are found guilty, then the club, all other business, and the assets will be returned to oldco. Oldco would then be returned to David Murray and other oldco shareholders.
      Again, if proved guilty, Whyte had no authority to call in administrators, at all. The actions of he administrators, guilty of fraud or not, would be voided as Whyte had no authority to call them in, in the first place. Subsequently, the administrators had no authority to sell the club, other business, or the assets to Green. Neither would they have had the lrgal authority to put what remained of oldco into the hands of the liquidators.
      Hence the courts would order ant liquidation proceedings to halt, or be reversed, and all business, including the football club, be returned to the legal owners of oldco.
      It will be very messy for all who have been involved since Whyte's alleged illegal purchase. If guilty, Mr Whyte, Mr Green, The Administrators and others will be getting sued from all directions, especially, by the legal owners of oldco.

  21. Di Stefano bought a load of old stock for pennys years ago can anyone remeber his reason for purchasing at the time?

  22. Would anyone be surprised if Charlie boy sold the stadium to himself at a knock down price and he is the recipient of the mysterious monthly direct debits leasing Ibrox back to the club?
    This is a complete mess and I hope that some of the other participants join Green, Whyte and assorted cronies in the dock, starting with the Edinburgh based former owner and those in the Scottish media who introduced these characters to the Gers support as the best thing since sliced bread………….all of which was a bunch of bare faced lies, Jackson especially for his part.
    Let's not forget Super who took the penny shares offered by Green for McCoist to lend him his support.

    This could take years to sort out. In the meantime we are losing £10m per year with no chance of a share issue whilst the legal proceedings take their course.

    Thank goodness we have Dave King as Chairman ready to invest and make up any financial shortfall……..WATP in King we trust.

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