Lawyers are ripping the P Liquidators and big legal firms have pocketed fees of £12m and counting One-man-band businesses stiffed for less than 4p in every £1 they’re due

A £12m chunk in fees for us, less than 4p in the pound for you lot..

CREDITORS of oldco Rangers are to be offered less than 4p in the pound, while the liquidators and big law firms have been paid more than £12million, the Daily Record can reveal.

Calling it “an insult”, one small creditor said last night: “It is a feeding frenzy for lawyers and accountants while the

small creditors get a tiny fraction of what they are owed, and it has still not been paid.”

Legal firms have already received about £9.2million, while the rolling bill for liquidators BDO stands at £3.4million.

The financial meltdown of the Ibrox club in 2012 – with debts of £134million – has sparked a frenzy of legal actions.

Documents seen by the Record show that unsecured creditors of oldco have been told they may get an “interim dividend” of 3.91p in the pound.

But that is in stark contrast with BDO, the company charged with processing oldco’s assets, who up to June of this year have earned fees of £3,386,000.

And unlike the unsecured creditors, the big lawyers have already been paid.

London lawyers Stephenson Harwood have received fees of £7,080,329 and outlays of £646,198.

Edinburgh-based Brodies solicitors got fees of £1,307,415 and outlays of £114,367.

Another legal firm, Levy and McRae, have had £54,074 along with £10,515 in outlays, while Clyde and Co have been paid £49,500.

The “interim dividend” payments to unsecured creditors mean they can expect scant reward.

The small creditor said: “We have waited more than five years and we’ll probably have to wait even longer to get anything.

“There are still fairly big issues to be resolved. There’s been no sign of any money being handed over.

“For small creditors to see £10million being paid out to the big firms while we get less then 4p in the pound, it is a case of the small guy being duffed up once again.

“The word interim suggests there might be something else further down the line but we just don’t know.”

BDO successfully sued ex-chairman Craig Whyte’s former law firm Collyer Bristow for £24million.

Around £5.4million of the fee paid to Stephenson Harwood relates to the Collyer Bristow litigation. They have also launched a legal action for £29million against Paul Clark and David Whitehouse, of administrators Duff & Phelps.

The essence of the action is that oldco’s assets were sold too cheaply to Charles Green’s consortium in 2012. Duff & Phelps are defending the action.

The 3.91p in the pound, going by the 2012 creditors list, would see small creditors like Bhutta’s newsagent – owed £567.45 – receive £22.19. Face painter Susan Thompson, who runs For Your Sonsie Face, is owed £40 but would receive £1.56.

One financial expert said: “It was always going to be realistically single digits in the pound for creditors. Frankly, that is because of the size of the debts.

“It is fair to say that the professional fees do rack up in these types of engagements.

“It can come as a surprise as to how much they get compared to creditors.

“There have been more professional fees incurred in trying to win the HMRC case which ultimately was lost. If I was the pie shop, I would be asking what that had actually done for me.” BDO would not comment. Brodies said they were “unable to comment on client matters”.