VIRUS CON MEN
Calls for Craig Whyte and dad to be investigated for fraud after firm scam £50k from coronavirus rescue loan meant to help struggling businesses
A FIRM linked to former Rangers owner Craig Whyte made false claims to pocket £50,000 of Covid rescue cash.
Calls are growing for the businessman and his dad to be probed by the Insolvency Service and police.
A COMPANY used by ex-Rangers owner Craig Whyte to help businesses cheat the taxman took a £50,000 coronavirus rescue loan from the Government – then spent it for mainly personal use.
It led to the company being wound up after it falsely claimed to have a massive turnover to obtain the money which is designed to help struggling firms.
A Daily Record investigation last year into the company – Fortress Restructuring Ltd – sparked probes by the Insolvency Service (INSS) and Police Scotland and their shameful business deals which were being conducted by Whyte and his OAP dad Tom.
But we can reveal a damning petition submitted by the INSS to the Court of Session outlines how: ● Fortress received the maximum £50,000 after giving misleading details about having a turnover of more than £250,000. ● The company has never declared a penny in earnings and has not been affected by coronavirus. ● The £50,000 was not used for company business and a “substantial proportion” was splashed on personal spending. ● Fortress doesn’t have cash to repay the loans.
The latest scandal has prompted fresh calls for both Whyte and his dad to be investigated for potential fraud offences.
Police Scotland is believed to be close to finalising a decision on a separate investigation into suspicions over Whyte acting in a senior management role with a company while banned from being a director.
An interim liquidator appointed by the INSS will now prepare a conduct report on individuals it finds to be controlling the firm. That could lead to a recommendation on criminal charges to be pursued whether by the police or the INSS’s investigations branch.
After hearing details of the INSS court petition, Scottish Labour’s economy spokesperson Monica Lennon said: “It is obvious there has been widespread abuse of the Bounce Back Loan Scheme and this
is galling for the many honest people who have been badly affected by the pandemic. If ongoing inquiries find any evidence of fraud or other wrongdoing I would hope the full force of the law is applied.”
Fortress Restructuring would have been wound up anyway on account of the Record’s revelations in August, which formed a substantial part of the petition by INSS.
The petition noted Fortress’s websites contained misleading material that undermined authorised insolvency practitioners. It found no evidence of anyone employed by Fortress “or in a position of control over it”, having any insolvency expertise.
And it also points out a wide range of “misleading and/or objectionable marketing material”, as documented in the Record. The shameful services offered include wiping debts and switching assets from one company to another.
INSS also slams the company for encouraging directors not to cooperate with insolvency practitioners. And its court document takes issue with how the Fortress website suggests that directors can circumvent disqualification orders and how it can use shadow directors to distort what is happening.
The winding up order was granted at the Court of Session after the petition was not challenged by Tom Whyte – the sole director listed at Companies House for Fortress.
An INSS spokesman said: “Following confidential inquiries, we petitioned the court to wind up Fortress Restructuring Limited after we found examples of misleading marketing material around their insolvency-related services.
“The company had also applied for Government financial assistance under false pretences.
“The petitioner was concerned that the company has been operating with a lack of commercial probity, including: 1. Abuse of the coronavirus bounce back loan scheme. 2. Misleading and/or objectionable marketing material.”
Craig Whyte was banned from being a company director for the maximum 15 years over his ownership of Rangers that brought the club to its knees in 2012. He was found to have used proceeds from future season ticket sales to buy the club.
Whyte’s autobiography, released last year, revealed contempt for an earlier seven-year ban for holding a UK directorship that was imposed on him. He wrote: “Anyone with half a brain can get around it and it means the authorities can’t monitor them. The judgment was bulls**t. It didn’t affect me one iota.”
Despite his directorship ban, he added: “I am back in business and rebuilding my financial position, which is a relief, given how devastating that was.”
Neither Tom nor Craig Whyte answered the phones registered to Fortress or its sister site Rescue Capital, which is tailored for London.
When the Daily Record approached Tom Whyte at his home in Lanarkshire, and asked why he’d applied for a bounce-back loan, he shut the door on our reporter.
A police spokesman said: “Our inquiries are continuing.”