Whyte’s lawyer thought he was whisky tycoon, jury told

Withey says businessman’s firm had £33m for Rangers takeover

A LAWYER who worked on Craig Whyte’s takeover of Rangers said he presented himself as someone who had “substantial wealth”, a court has heard.

Gary Withey, 52, said he initially thought the businessman was part of the Whyte & Mackay whisky group when he first showed interest in buying the club.

He also told the jury at the High Court in Glasgow that Mr Whyte’s firm Liberty Capital had up to £33 million available for the deal. The comments came on the 12th day of the trial of Mr Whyte, who is accused of a fraudulent acquisition of Rangers.

He denies a charge of fraud and another under the Companies Act.

Mr Withey began working on a business plan to take over Rangers in October 2010.

He said he was introduced to Mr Whyte through a client and was involved in drawing up legal documents for the takeover.

At the time, Mr Withey worked for a London tax specialist, Collyer Bristow, which had been recruited by Mr Whyte.

During questioning by Alex Prentice, the prosecution QC, Mr Withey was asked if he wanted to take on the case. He responded: “Yes and no,” adding: “Football clubs are always a complete nightmare.”

Mr Prentice asked if he was initially aware how any bid for Rangers was going to be funded.

Mr Withey replied: “Mr Whyte was portrayed as someone with substantial financial wealth. Most people in the City would have said that. One person confused Mr Whyte with Whyte & MacKay. At one point, that’s who I thought I was dealing with.”

He also said that up to £27.5m of the club’s debt would be paid to Lloyds Banking Group “conditional on completion of appropriate due diligence and completion of all relevant documents”.

The court was later told about a joint deposit account that was created for Collyer Bristow and agents for the ticketing firm Ticketus. The bank account was to relate directly to the takeover of Rangers, said Mr Withey.

He also confirmed that the account was to be used for “Ticketus money”.

When pressed by Mr Prentice, he accepted that Mr Whyte’s company would not have claim to the assets of Rangers before completion of the deal.

Mr Withey said: “Only the owner of Rangers Football Club could use the tickets.”

He said money from Ticketus transaction was held in the account from April 2011, ahead of the deal to buy the club the following month.

Mr Withey also said that £1m from a company called Merchant Turnaround Plc was in the account along with nearly £3m from a firm called Jerome Pensions.

Prosecutors allege Mr Whyte pretended to Sir David Murray and others that funds were available to make all required payments to acquire a “controlling and majority stake” in the club.

The Crown alleges Mr Whyte had only £4m available from two sources at the time but took out a £24m loan from Ticketus against three years of future season ticket sales. The trial, before judge Lady Stacey, continues.