Grier sues the Crown and police for £7m over his arrest
Rangers insolvency adviser claims it was ‘career-ending moment’ for him
a BUsInEss expert has told of the ‘catastrophic’ and ‘career-ending’ moment he was arrested in a doomed Rangers fraud probe.
david Grier, 60, is suing police and prosecutors for £7million after he was cleared of all charges against him.
He is also suing the BBC over The Men Who sold The Jerseys, a documentary about the case, and an expert interviewed for the programme.
Mr Grier yesterday told judge lord Tyre that his life changed after Police scotland detained him in connection with his alleged involvement in criminal activity at the football club.
The Court of session heard that, following his arrest, business contacts became ‘reluctant’ to deal with him. He said there was so much negative publicity surrounding his detention by police that he had to contact Google to remove information about him.
Mr Grier, along with a number of other men, was acquitted of all charges by a High Court judge.
However, he said he has been unable to return to the position he once had.
Mr Grier told the court he was an adviser on high-profile insolvency cases for duff & Phelps, an international consultancy firm.
He told his lawyer andrew smith, QC: ‘Unfortunately, being arrested for fraud when you work in financial services is catastrophic – it’s a career-ending moment.
‘My connections that I had, that I had established over many, many years, were suddenly not as encouraged to deal with me – for good reason because it’s very difficult to promote someone as a corporate adviser when you have a suspicion of fraud hanging over you.
‘no matter how hard I tried to make that go away through various things – cleaning up Google and such things, it remains.
‘It’s a very difficult thing to get cleansed.’
Mr Grier is suing the current lord advocate, claiming prosecutors had no evidence to justify him being arrested and charged. He is also suing the Chief Constable of Police scotland for acting unlawfully when he was arrested during an investigation into alleged wrongdoing at Rangers.
The legal actions stem from a police probe surrounding the financial position at Rangers during the past decade and the sale of the club to businessman Craig Whyte in 2011. Prosecutors claimed Mr Grier participated in a fraud with Mr Whyte. They claimed that Mr Whyte broke the law by using cash from a firm called Ticketus to acquire the finance to buy Rangers.
Ticketus had agreed to pay Rangers around £26.7million in return for the future sale of season tickets at the club.
Earlier this year, lord Tyre concluded prosecutors had no ‘probable cause’ to prosecute Mr Grier.
But lord Tyre said there was insufficient evidence to conclude that prosecutors brought the case against Mr Grier maliciously.
The cases brought by Mr Grier follow admissions by the Crown Office in another action raised by businessmen david Whitehouse and Paul Clark. Prosecutors admitted Mr Whitehouse and Mr Clark were wrongfully arrested and prosecuted.
The two men sought a total of £20.8million from the Crown Office and Police scotland. But they later settled their action, with each receiving £10.3million.
Their legal bills, thought to be £3million each, were also paid for. Earlier this year, former Rangers executive Charles Green was told he was able to receive damages after the Crown admitted it had conducted a ‘malicious’ prosecution against him.
Mr Grier said yesterday he first became aware that he was a suspect in the fraud probe on november 13, 2014. lawyers had told him in a meeting that he was suspected of wrongdoing. Police went to his home in the south of England the following morning at 6am and he was detained and taken to Glasgow to be interviewed.
Mr Grier told the court he never suspected any wrongdoing in the sale of Rangers to Mr Whyte.
He said he developed concerns about Mr Whyte’s deal after the sale had concluded. Mr smith asked Mr Grier: ‘do you have any idea why you were prosecuted?’ Mr Grier replied: ‘no.’
Mr Grier denied any wrongdoing when asked about his involvement by alastair duncan, QC, for Police scotland. He said the police were incorrect in their assessment of the evidence. Police scotland and the Crown Office contest the claims. The hearing continues.
‘Being arrested is catastrophic’ ‘Very difficult to get cleansed’