MORALLY BANKRUPT
Football club under pressure after failing to get transfer limit
Hamilton Accies this week accused the Royal Bank of Scotland of being“morally bankrupt” after being told a transfer limit could not be put in place on their account.
Speaking exclusively to the Advertiser, the football club’s chief executive Colin Mcgowan claims he requested that the bank set a £100,000 daily transfer limit to secure the club’s finances.
The move came after the Scottish Premier League outfit were swindled out of almost £1 million back in October of last year in an elaborate ‘vhishing’ scam.
Hamilton Accies this week accused the Royal Bank of Scotland of being “morally bankrupt” after learning the bank cannot set a transfer limit on their account in a bid to secure the club’s finances.
Speaking exclusively to the Advertiser this week Colin Mcgowan, the chief executive at the Scottish Premier League outfit, claims he requested that the bank set a £100,000 daily transfer limit. His plea came after the club were swindled out of almost £1 million last October in an elaborate ‘vhishing’ scam that saw fraudsters fleece their account over a 24-hour period.
Mcgowan told the Advertiser this week that he also asked for RBS to contact any of the football club’s directors should a transfer beyond £100,000 be triggered, and offered to pay for the extra security service on their account.
But he was astounded after being told the Bankline system used by RBS does not allow customers to set daily limits.
In an email to the boss, and commercial manager Shaun Fagan, this week, the club’s RBS relationship manager said: “To clarify, Bankline is a customer administered system and, whilst customers are able to set payment limit and payment authorisation levels for individual Bankline users, Bankline does not provide the functionality for customers to set daily limits.”
Mcgowan, who previously admitted the sale of Greg Docherty to Rangers and Michael Devlin to Aberdeen during the January transfer window helped financial matters at the club, said: “That to me means that any future criminal or cyber attack, whether internal or external, can effectively empty our account and the bank are powerless to limit any losses. It is astounding!
“My request was simple, based on our meetings with police and the bank themselves, that we need to protect our finances going forward and put a daily transfer limit on our account but it appears that this cannot be done.
“I am just trying to protect this club and the bank are simply not letting me. In my opinion the RBS are morally bankrupt.”
Earlier this year the football club enlisted the help of law firm Levy & Mcrae in a bid to recoup £415,000 of their £830,000 loss back from the bank, claiming both the club and bank were at fault for the scam.
Mcgowan added: “The one thing I am certain about, and that I would like our fans to be assured of, is that Hamilton Accies will always be here. It is imperative to us that we protect this club, our finances and future at all costs. Our fight with RBS will continue.”
A spokesperson for RBS said: “We have provided a range of options and recommendations to HAFC to ensure they have measures in place to protect the club from fraud.
“The bank regularly produces new fraud and scam collateral, including videos on the latest threats, scams and frauds, and publicises the material via different communication channels, including emails direct to all Bankline users. Defeating the fraudsters requires vigilance from both the bank and its customers, and we ask for their support in ensuring that due consideration is given to all the guidance provided.”