Anger of Sir Shifty as MP accuses him of ‘nicking money’

SIR Philip Green was accused by an MP of ‘nicking money’ – a claim he furiously denounced yesterday as totally unacceptable.

The accusation came from Labour MP Frank Field who demanded that the tycoon write ‘a very large cheque’ to make up for his role in the collapse of BHS.

The enraged billionaire called Mr Field ‘extremely rude’ and said: ‘ Accusing me and my family of theft is totally false and unacceptable on any basis.’

Their angry exchange came after investment bank Goldman Sachs said it was ‘reviewing’ its long-running relationship with Sir Philip after the scandal over the High Street chain’s demise.

Sir Philip sold BHS for just £1 to threetimes bankrupt former racing driver Dominic Chappell in 2015. A year later the store nosedived into collapse with the loss of 11,000 jobs and a £571million pensions black hole.

The billionaire – nicknamed ‘Sir Shifty’ by critics – owned BHS for 15 years until 2015, and took £400million in dividends from the company before its collapse.

His wealth is largely owned by his wife Lady Green, who lives in tax-haven Monaco.

The tycoon promised to ‘sort out’ BHS’s stricken pensions scheme, which has 22,000 members, but yesterday, as some of his executives gave evidence to MPs investigating the fiasco, Mr Field told them: ‘If Sir Philip was serious he could today settle the pension issue.

‘We are fed up with hearing “I am about to fix it”. He does not fix it. What is required is a very large cheque from the Green family, that have done so well out of the whole of this exploitation.

‘He could fix this today if he was serious’

‘The City is furious with your behaviour, the image you have put over, that business is not about creating jobs, about spreading wealth, it’s about nicking money off other people.

‘That is what we have seen, and we have got left very vulnerable pensioners and very vulnerable people trying to find a job in the labour market. Sir Philip could fix this today if he was serious.’

While the investigation goes on, Sir Philip has taken delivery of a £45million new private jet, which his wife Lady Green is reportedly planning to give a £300,000 makeover to make it even more luxurious.

She was spotted earlier this week inspecting the couple’s new £100million superyacht, the 300ft Lionheart – their third yacht.

Last night Sir Philip said: ‘ Mr Field’s outrageous outburst today demonstrated yet again his clear prejudice against myself, my wife and my executives, who turned up for a second time.

‘He arrived very late, offered no apology, heard no evidence, clearly just to put on a ten-minute show and was extremely rude.

‘Accusing me and my family of theft is totally false and unacceptable on any basis.’ He said the committee had been made ‘fully aware of the fact that a solution for the BHS pension funds is being worked on’, adding: ‘Mr Field needs to apologise for his shocking and offensive behaviour.’

It is claimed Sir Philip refused to sell struggling BHS to a rival retailer in case they humiliated him by making a success of it.

MPs say he blocked the sale of BHS to Sports Direct owner Mike Ashley because of his ‘ego’ – an allegation he fiercely denies. During an ill-tempered Parliamentary grilling earlier this month, the tycoon repeatedly lost his temper, telling one MP, ‘Stop staring at me, it’s disturbing,’ and accusing another of trying to bully him. The entrepreneur has consistently tried to shift blame for the scandal on to his bankers and advisers, including Goldman Sachs. Yesterday the bank’s Europe boss, Michael Sherwood, told MPs its involvement in the BHS saga had not enhanced its reputation.

‘We’ve been reviewing Goldman Sachs’ relationship with Sir Philip Green at this point,’ he said.

Mr Sherwood was quick to absolve Goldman of any blame for the retailer’s collapse, saying it ‘never passed our sniff test’.