Whyte gives up battle to keep his castle hideaway
A HISTORIC castle owned by former Rangers owner Craig Whyte has been returned to the bank. The businessman bought Castle Grant nearly six years ago in a £720,000 deal.
But earlier this week he handed back the keys to his hideaway near Grantown-on-Spey, Moray, to stave off legal action by Bank of Scotland.
The bank had been involved in a long-running civil battle with the Monaco-based millionaire over mortgage arrears totalling nearly £50,000.
Yesterday, as the locks were changed and security guards patrolled the property with dogs, Inverness Sheriff Court was told the wrangle had been settled.
Mary Nimmo, a lawyer acting for the bank, told Sheriff David Hall her client was seeking to have the action to recover the debt dismissed.
The arrears had been run up by Mr Whyte after he failed to pay the £7,000 a month instalments.
The bank embarked on a civil action to recover the money last year, but Whyte has now given up his fight to keep the castle.
Miss Nimmo said: ‘Neither of the defenders will be making an appearance today and my motion is to dismiss the cause with no expenses on either side.’
In little over 15 seconds, the dispute had finally ended.
Whyte and his now estranged wife Kim bought Castle Grant in 2006 with a 110 per cent mortgage and promised to spend millions restoring it.
When their marriage fell apart, she moved out and Mr Whyte fell into arrears with the mortgage.
It is understood Mrs Whyte lives in Yorkshire and was unavailable for comment yesterday.
The bank had been trying to repossess the property but the l egal action was temporarily halted late last year to allow for a settlement. This followed an indication from Mrs Whyte that the tycoon intended to sell the castle rather than see it repossessed.
But over the past two weeks two removal vans were seen at the castle, with Mr Whyte’s father, Tom, overseeing the removal of property – including the extraction of heating oil from tanks.
It is understood French chandeliers and other costly fittings have also been removed.
Security at Castle Grant was beefed up yesterday by estate agent Strutt & Parker, which has been given the task of selling it.
It is the latest setback for Mr Whyte, who has also been ordered to pay investment firm Ticketus nearly £18million after providing misleading information when he took over Rangers.
Bank of Scotland and its legal team declined to comment further on the latest court case.