Charges double in Rangers fraud case
Green, Whyte and four others now face fifteen counts
P rOSeCuTOrS have brought seven new charges against six men accused of a multi-million-pound fraud against rangers.
former owner Craig Whyte, 44, and ex-chief executive Charles Green, 62, were among those in the dock at the High Court in edinburgh yesterday.
They sat alongside Gary Withey, 51, david Grier, 54, david Whitehouse, 50, and Paul Clark, 51.
The men all allegedly participated in criminal conduct during their involvement with rangers.
Previously, Whyte, Withey, Grier, Whitehouse and Clark were charged with conspiring to acquire and obtain by fraud a majority and controlling stake in the shareholding of the club. It is alleged they were able to acquire ‘ 85.3 per cent of the issued capital of the club for £1’.
It is claimed they ‘did conspire to and obtain sums amounting to £28,262,094 by fraud’.
Green faces various charges, including that he and others ‘did agree to do something they knew or suspected or ought reasonably to have known or suspected would enable or further the commission of serious organised crime’.
The Crown claims that in the months before and after the takeover of the club, Whyte, Withey, Grier, Whitehouse and Clark carried out a fraudulent scheme.
Proceedings yesterday were held before judge Lord Bannatyne.
The case was first heard in October, when prosecutors brought eight charges against the six men.
However, yesterday it emerged that they now face a total of 15 charges. The new charges include that, between August 2011 and October 2011, Whyte and Grier obtained £66,120 by fraud from rangers.
Another states that, between May 2011 and March 19, 2012, Whyte, Withey, Grier, Whitehouse and Clark ‘did fail to pay VAT, PAye and National Insurance, fail to pay other debts due by the company and receive a further sum of £6,090,255.72. Whitehouse and Clark are also charged with attempting to pervert the course of justice.
Another charge alleges that Whyte, Whitehouse, Clark and Green fraudulently acquired rangers for a sum below its true market value. They also allegedly agreed that Green would ‘falsely present’ himself as an ‘independent purchaser of the club’.
It is claimed that, in June 2012, Whitehouse and Clark permitted the transfer of £291,823.10 from rangers youth development Limited to a company called Sevco. This enabled Sevco to purchase rangers business and assets.
Another charge alleges Green appropriated for his own use and purposes the sum of £5.5million which he had obtained by fraud. It i s claimed he bought ‘ the business and assets of the club through its corporate entity Sevco Scotland Limited with money provided by investors to Sevco 5088 Limited without their knowledge and agreement’.
It is alleged Whyte, Whitehouse, Clark and Green conspired to break the law following the administration of rangers in 2012. It is also claimed they took part in a scheme to acquire the club for a sum less than its true market value.
The case will continue on January 21 in Aberdeen.