£500,000 paY citY rOLLer
Wife finally gets cash left by band’s Les McKeown
HUNDREDS of thousands of pounds left in limbo by late Bay City Rollers star Les McKeown has been claimed by his wife.
The finances of a management firm run by the singer have been in disarray since his death aged 65 in April 2021.
He’d left £794,000 of cash behind but wife Peko Keiko, 76, has now managed to access the money after being made a director of his former company, Tangent Management Limited.
Accounts show she then placed it into liquidation with newly- published reports showing just under £500,000 has been transferred to her.
But the payment of the money – through a director’s loan account – means that some creditors will miss out on money they are owed.
A source close to the firm said: “The accounts of the company were split across two or three bank accounts but nobody was able to access the money because Les died and the company was effectively drifting without anyone running it.
“His wife was able to become a director so a liquidator could be appointed to take control of the company’s assets and because a loan account has been set up and she is the only director, the money goes straight to her which will be a relief that his hard earned music income won’t just be locked away or deferred to the Government.”
Liquidator Thornton Rones was appointed to Tangent Management in February last year and published a report last week which sets out how Les’s assets are being distributed.
It states that the director’s account was paid “in the sum of £ 455,000” with a “further sum expected to be paid on conclusion of the liquidation”.
The accounts suggest another £300,000 could be paid to Peko.
Nationwide tributes from the music industry were paid when Les died from a suspected heart attack.
He left behind Peko and son Jubei, 40.
The Bay City Rollers shot to fame with hits such as Shang-A-Lang and Bye Bye Baby before splitting in 1978.
Decades of legal wrangling followed against their former record label Arista over millions in missing royalties. In 2016, Sony reached an out-of-court settlement with the band over cash from the 120million records sold.
At one point, the group – which included Eric Faulkner, Stuart Wood and brothers Alan and Derek – were said to be owed more than £70million in unpaid royalties.
The money goes to her, which will be a relief source ON CASH LEFT IN LIMBO BY LES McKEOWN