Accies seek funds to fill finance void

HAMILTON ACCIES are desperately looking for alternative means of plugging a huge gap in its finances as they continue to come to terms with the Royal Bank of Scotland’s refusal to refund £830,000 fraudulently taken from

their bank account. Already relying on directors dipping into their own pockets to cover day-to-day running costs, the club are now trying to engage with fresh sponsors and investors to allow them to balance the books next year. Accies revealed in October that they had been the victims of an elaborate fraud which saw two significant tranches of money vanish in consecutive days. Determined to recover the sums that were lost through so-called vishing, the club decided to keep its own counsel while working with the RBS and Police Scotland on the matter. However, bank executives told the club’s directors earlier this month they are not accepting responsibility for what happened. ‘The directors have met the monetary requirements up to this point,’ Accies chief executive Colin McGowan told

Sportsmail. ‘We believe we have made adequate provision for the remainder of the season. We are obviously seeking additional revenue streams to ensure the club’s ongoing stability.’ As well as cash earmarked for the wages of players and staff, the money stolen was set to fund the club’s involvement in Project Brave after it recently attained Elite status for its youth development programme with the SFA. Outraged at what they believe to be a hand-washing exercise by RBS, Accies have engaged top Glasgow legal firm Levy & McRae as well as a banking fraud specialist as they seek to look at every available means of recovering the cash. But with those moves only in the early stage, the club will need to nail down external sources of finance via a sponsor or through the selling of a player in January.