Police fight ex-rangers finance chief claim over wrongful arrest

THE Chief Constable is contesting liability for any damages to former Rangers finance chief Imran Ahmad, who has received a public apology from Scotland’s most senior law officer over wrongful prosecutions linked to club fraud and conspiracy.

Both Mr Ahmad and club chief executive Charles Green are going through a court battle with the Lord Advocate over how much they will receive in connection with the wrongful arrests. Mr Green also has a claim against the Chief Constable.

However it has emerged that Police Scotland are contesting any liability in Mr Ahmad’s case.

Lord Advocate James Wolffe last week made a public apology to both men as the damages cases were due to be progressed.

Mr Green, whose Sevco consortium bought the assets of the club business in liquidation nine years ago for £5.5million, is due to receive compensation after Crown lawyers accepted he was subjected to a malicious prosecution for fraud. A full hearing in his £20m damages claim over wrongful arrest to decide how much should be awarded was due in August, but his solicitors raised concerns yesterday that it might be delayed.

Mr Ahmad is also pursuing an amount that could run to £30m, after he was wrongly prosecuted on fraud charges. Court documents state that, at present, it is a £2m claim.

Both men are being represented by former Advocates General for

Scotland, law officers of the Crown, whose duty it is to advise the UK Government on Scots law.

Gerry Moyniham QC, for the Lord Advocate, indicated that there were problems in a mediation with Mr Ahmad because of difficulties over a report into the the extent of the damages that the state has paid for.

Mr Moyniham said said one of the issues in the cases related to the amount of damage that was done to a company both men had been involved with called Proton International. There was further information needed on damage done to a firm Mr Green had been involved with, a Florida-based firm called Croton.

Lord Keen for Mr Green said that issues over shared information regarding the damages cases should not be a barrier to progress.

He said: “It seems that the Lord Advocate has simply done nothing about that until now. You have to remember the events we are concerned with took place six years ago. If matters are deferred yet again Mr Green is going to be further prejudiced by the actions of the Lord Advocate. It seems wholly inappropriate.”

Lord Tyre, who referred Mr Green’s case to the commercial court, said he can “tailor things accordingly to ensure that orders are made for disclosure of information while retaining the possibility” of the case being heard as scheduled in August. He said he would not refer Mr Ahmad’s case to the commercial court, saying he wanted to encourage mediation.

“I have sympathy with the Lord Advocate’s position in relation to the obtaining of information. I take the point but time has passed, and particularly in this case, when the dates were set aside in August back last year in October, and there did seem to be plenty of time ... I’m not apportioning blame for that, but things have to move forward,” said Lord Tyre, who refused an expenses claim from the representatives of Mr Ahmad and Mr Green.

Both men were told three years ago they would face no further proceedings in connection with the case as prosecutors said there is “now no evidence of a crime”.

The decision by the Crown Office had marked the end of the two-and-ahalf-year proceedings that saw only Craig Whyte face trial and led to no convictions.

The original 15 charges in the Rangers case had covered fraud and conspiracy surrounding Mr Whyte’s purchase of Rangers from Sir David Murray for one pound in 2011 and the buying of the club’s liquidated assets for £5.5m by the Sevco consortium four months after the business fell into administration in February, 2012.

I have sympathy with the Lord Advocate’s position