Whyte ‘ dishonest’ about funding of Rangers takeover

0 The jury could decide the fate of Craig Whyte next week at the High Court in Glasgow Former Rangers owner Craig Why t e di d not use a “s i ngl e penny” of his own money in his t akeover of t he club, his trial has been told.

A l e x P r e n t i c e Q C u r g e d jurors to convict the 46- yearold as he summed up the prosecution case at the High Court in Glasgow.

Whyte is accused of acquiring Rangers by fraud in May 2011. He denies the charge, and another under the Companies Act.

T h e c o u r t h a s h e a r d t h e sale was eventually made to Whyte for £ 1, but came with a number of financial obligations, including the clearing of a large bank debt.

The Cr own a l l e g e s Why t e pretended to then owner Sir David Murray that funds were “immediately available” on an “unconditional basis” to make al l r equired payments f or a controlling and majority stake in the Glasgow club.

Mr Prentice said the accused, and his Wavetower company, di d not have authorit y over the funds used in the takeover which amounted to £ 1 million from finance company Merc ha nt Tur na r o und, a r o und £ 3m from the Jerome Group pension fund and £ 24m from ticketing firm Ticketus.

The advo cate depute s ai d: “Mr Whyte made dishonest r e p r e s e n t a t i o n s t o Mur r ay [ t he Murray Group] t hat he had the funds to complete the transaction as at 6 May.

“The Crown says Mr Whyte bought Rangers Football Club without a single penny of his own, but with money he was not entitled to.”

Mr P r e n t i c e t o l d t h e j u r y Whyte to ok “active steps” to ensure the Ticketus deal – a loan taken against a percentage of the club’s future season ticket sales – was not revealed t o Murray a n d t h e a c c u s e d g ave t h e i mpres s i o n t h e funds were coming from himself.

He said: “If Murray had known t he t r ue p osi t i on it would not have sold the shares, and you have evidence of that. That is the fraud.”

He said evidence from Sir David and Murray Group e mpl oye e s s h owe d t h e y would not have approved the deal if they were aware of the Ticketus funding. “If we accept the evidence, we can accept Mr Whyte knew this was never going to run and took steps to conceal it,” Mr Prentice said.

D e f e n c e Q C D o n a l d Fi ndlay i s t o s um up t he defence case t o day, with jurors expected to be given directions by judge Lady St a c e y next week b e f ore they retire to consider their verdict.