****in spastics
Like winning the Scottish championship means anything ...
Whitewash the fact that st j pumped them ...
Off Topic Pointless point-scoring thread
- Thread starter RebelBhoy
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Like winning the Scottish championship means anything ...
Whitewash the fact that st j pumped them ...
Imagine he had to deal with this sort of ****e?
Sports Hotline: Ronny Deila is starting to get on the Celtic supporters' wick - he's just not listening
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/opinion/sport/hotline/sports-hotline-ronny-deila-starting-6527986
ANTHONY HAGGERTY answers your calls and hears from a few Celtic fans who are not best pleased with their manager after their latest slip-up at home.
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/opinion/sport/hotline/sports-hotline-ronny-deila-starting-6527986
I read it expecting a number of Celtic fans to be complaining, here's what we got:
First up was Ian Loudon, Glasgow, who e-mailed: “Any chance you think that clown Deila could button his lip. “We’ll win every game left except the next one. “How did that prediction work out for you Ron?
Walter Hamilton, Paisley, said: “What is Deila on? “He just keeps opening his mouth and the exact opposite happens. “As a true blue all I an say is ‘keep talking Ronny, just keep talking’.
Eric Bredin, Glasgow, said: “I’d like a pint of what Deila drinks if he thinks it is acceptable for the club captain Scott Brown to go out for a night on the tiles in the run up to a major domestic cup final.”
Michael Sheerin, Liverpool, said: “Deila is starting to get on the Celtic supporters wick as he is not listening to them. “We need to play with two strikers up front. “How can Celtic create so many opportunities against Hearts and fail to score. “If Deila loses the title to Aberdeen this season then that is grounds for dismissal.”
That, according to the Daily Record, is evidence that Ronny is starting to get on Celtic fans' wicks.
One fanny spouting ****e, another fanny who thinks Scott Brown should be teetotal, another twat who has declared no team allegiance and a Rangers fan.
Sports Hotline: Ronny Deila is starting to get on the Celtic supporters' wick - he's just not listening
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/opinion/sport/hotline/sports-hotline-ronny-deila-starting-6527986
ANTHONY HAGGERTY answers your calls and hears from a few Celtic fans who are not best pleased with their manager after their latest slip-up at home.
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/opinion/sport/hotline/sports-hotline-ronny-deila-starting-6527986
I read it expecting a number of Celtic fans to be complaining, here's what we got:
First up was Ian Loudon, Glasgow, who e-mailed: “Any chance you think that clown Deila could button his lip. “We’ll win every game left except the next one. “How did that prediction work out for you Ron?
Walter Hamilton, Paisley, said: “What is Deila on? “He just keeps opening his mouth and the exact opposite happens. “As a true blue all I an say is ‘keep talking Ronny, just keep talking’.
Eric Bredin, Glasgow, said: “I’d like a pint of what Deila drinks if he thinks it is acceptable for the club captain Scott Brown to go out for a night on the tiles in the run up to a major domestic cup final.”
Michael Sheerin, Liverpool, said: “Deila is starting to get on the Celtic supporters wick as he is not listening to them. “We need to play with two strikers up front. “How can Celtic create so many opportunities against Hearts and fail to score. “If Deila loses the title to Aberdeen this season then that is grounds for dismissal.”
That, according to the Daily Record, is evidence that Ronny is starting to get on Celtic fans' wicks.
One fanny spouting ****e, another fanny who thinks Scott Brown should be teetotal, another twat who has declared no team allegiance and a Rangers fan.
Level 5s PR campaign gathers pace, this is the Top story in the Evening Times:
Rangers could challenge Celtic for Premiership title says Morton's Ross Forbes
Rangers could challenge Celtic for Premiership title says Morton's Ross Forbes
Got pumped fae St Johnstone but beat Greenock Morton so that makes them good enough to challenge Celtic.
Pick the logic out of that one.
Just read the article. He doesn't actually say Rangers could challenge Celtic. Classic hun spin.
Got pumped fae St Johnstone but beat Greenock Morton so that makes them good enough to challenge Celtic.
Pick the logic out of that one.
Just read the article. He doesn't actually say Rangers could challenge Celtic. Classic hun spin.
Level 5 spin
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/...rangers-postpone-petrofac-cup-quarter-6531364
Rangers postpone Petrofac Cup quarter-final clash with Livingston due to international call-ups
Rangers postpone Petrofac Cup quarter-final clash with Livingston due to international call-ups
THE Ibrox side decided to bump the fixture, scheduled for Friday, October 9, after three players were summoned for national service.
Imagine he had to deal with this sort of ****e?
Sports Hotline: Ronny Deila is starting to get on the Celtic supporters' wick - he's just not listening
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/opinion/sport/hotline/sports-hotline-ronny-deila-starting-6527986
ANTHONY HAGGERTY answers your calls and hears from a few Celtic fans who are not best pleased with their manager after their latest slip-up at home.
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/opinion/sport/hotline/sports-hotline-ronny-deila-starting-6527986
I read it expecting a number of Celtic fans to be complaining, here's what we got:
First up was Ian Loudon, Glasgow, who e-mailed: “Any chance you think that clown Deila could button his lip. “We’ll win every game left except the next one. “How did that prediction work out for you Ron?
Walter Hamilton, Paisley, said: “What is Deila on? “He just keeps opening his mouth and the exact opposite happens. “As a true blue all I an say is ‘keep talking Ronny, just keep talking’.
Eric Bredin, Glasgow, said: “I’d like a pint of what Deila drinks if he thinks it is acceptable for the club captain Scott Brown to go out for a night on the tiles in the run up to a major domestic cup final.”
Michael Sheerin, Liverpool, said: “Deila is starting to get on the Celtic supporters wick as he is not listening to them. “We need to play with two strikers up front. “How can Celtic create so many opportunities against Hearts and fail to score. “If Deila loses the title to Aberdeen this season then that is grounds for dismissal.”
That, according to the Daily Record, is evidence that Ronny is starting to get on Celtic fans' wicks.
One fanny spouting ****e, another fanny who thinks Scott Brown should be teetotal, another twat who has declared no team allegiance and a Rangers fan.
If Celtic lose the league to Aberdeen Ronny has said he should be sacked
It's 2 years and I still can't say his surname :-(
Record sales down a further 10k this year
I'd like to thank The Vow
The EBT legacy of David Murray
“I firmly believe until Rangers supporters point the finger at him, they will be in denial for all eternity.”
(https://johnjamessite.wordpress.com/2015/09/26/level-5-and-the-4th-estate/)
This comment, made by a contributor to one of my blogs was never raised in the Scottish Mainstream Media. So-called journalists, notably James Traynor, spent the weekend as guests of David Murray at his estate in Jersey in November 1998. Over dinner,Mr Murray set out his terms of engagement with the print media. Just over nine years later, when HMRC contacted Rangers in regard to their alleged abuse of EBT (February 2008), Murray sycophants turned a blind eye to the far reaching implications of the HMRC correspondence. It should also be noted that later in this year, the bailout of Halifax/Bank of Scotland by Lloyds Bank, ended the soft credit days where Mr Murray was able to write blank cheques, which amounted to almost a billion pounds, safe in the knowledge that Rangers supporting executives at The Bank of Scotland would bend over backwards to honour them. Given that executives at The Bank of Scotland gave CFC notice of one week to fully discharge their debts of £5.2m or they would appoint receivers (March 1994), their sobriquet as ‘The Bank of Rangers’ was well-earned.
Prior to the sale of Rangers to Craig Whyte, Lloyds appointed one of their executives to run Rangers. He reduced long term debt from over £30m to £18m. However, there was a time-bomb ticking from February 2008 which continues to wreak havoc with Rangers to this day. One of the co-authors of a book on Employee Benefit Trusts (EBT), eminent tax QC Andrew Thornhill, appeared as a witness in a four day hearing in July of this year. It is HMRC’s contention that EBT constitute disguised remuneration which is subject to tax.
One of the areas where I posit that Mr Murray may have abnegated on his fiduciary duties was in ignoring the EBTSO (EBT Settlement Offer) amnesty introduced by HMRC. As many as 5,000 employers engaged in EBTs. Where they have been used as a tax efficient alternative to cash bonuses, often using ‘sub-trusts’ to provide long term benefits to employees and/or their families, they invited scrutiny from HMRC.
HMRC introduced the Disguised Remuneration legislation (which took full effect from 6 April 2011) to counter the use of EBTs, in this manner, in the future, but it also stated that it would continue to pursue possible litigation cases where EBTs had been used in this way historically. HMRC encouraged employers to approach them with a view to reaching a settlement and ultimately avoiding the risk of litigation. It was a classic example of a ‘carrot and stick‘strategy. In my considered opinion, Mr Murray ignored the carrot and subsequently passed the stick to Craig Whyte.
No-one benefited more from his introduction of EBT than Mr Murray. He pocketed £6.3m. Former managers of Rangers picked up a total of circa £3.5m. The players ‘earned’ £32,311,283; with former captain Barry Ferguson picking up £2.5m. Neil McCann, now a pundit at Sky, banked £500,000. When you add the interests of former directors such as Campbell Ogilvie, who as secretary of the club administered the majority of these trusts, you arrive at a figure approaching £44m. According to HMRC there are other beneficiaries, to an amount of circa £26m, which have not been published.
After a fateful meeting between Mr Murray and Mr Paul Baxendale-Walker, the former signed up to a subscription model as per the pitch of the latter. However having initially engaged the services of Mr Baxendale-Walker, Mr Murray chose to oversee the roll-out of the tax-efficient model on his own.
The advantages of this model were compelling. When Mr Murray assigned £1m into a trust, from which a player could derive a loan, PAYE Tax and National Insurance of circa £718,000, including the employer’s 13.8% NI contribution, is avoided. As these trust contributions are not classed as earnings, profits are enhanced which leads to concerns about Corporation Tax liability. However this is covered by offsetting these profits against a loss making operation such as was the case with Rangers. Mr Murray was particularly attracted to applying some of the losses arising from his company’s ownership of Rangers to reducing the tax liabilities of Murray International Holdings plc.
Flushed with the prospect of success, Mr Murray then made a significant error. To provide a level of comfort to individuals whom would benefit from the trusts, he provided a letter, on RFC notepaper, which confirmed that should any third party ever compel beneficiaries to repay the loans, Rangers would subsequently reimburse them.
With the issue of side-letters, Mr Murray had transgressed one of the central precepts of the scheme, which is that there is no evidence of an employee having any entitlement to a loan from the EBT. The side-letters are the smoking gun of Murray’s maladministration of EBT. If he had continued with his subscription to Mr Baxendale-Walker’s services, I doubt whether he would have made these errors.
HMRC pursued MIH and Rangers with vigour once they realized that they would not participate in their amnesty. They are currently appealing a ruling that only upheld five of their thirty petitions to the court. Should they fail in this appeal, they will pursue the matter in The Supreme Court in London. They set out their position clearly when introducing the EBTSO amnesty. Mr Murray’s introduction of EBT had other ramifications. There was an allegation of ‘financial doping’ which undermined the bid of Charles Green’s new Rangers to adopt the Scottish Premiership share held by the old Rangers.
This is as good a point as any to dispel the notion of demotion, which continues in the reportage of Ian Black at The Scottish Sun. Sevco Scotland/The Rangers Football Club Ltd were not demoted. They applied to join the Scottish Football League when their bid to transfer SPL membership was rejected.
HMRC rejected the CVA, therefore Rangers could not continue as a going concern. Mr Green’s consortium paid £2m for the trading assets (£3.5m had been raised from creditors by Duff & Phelps) prior to the initiation of the liquidation of the old club/company, renamed Rangers 2012, in October 2012.
Did the HMRC demands in February 2008 compel Mr Murray to sell Rangers or did Lloyds bank hold a gun to his head? I am much more persuaded by the former narrative than the latter. We can trace back Mr Murray’s desire to sell the club to the summer of 2008. Was Mr Murray duped by Craig Whyte? I do not accept this for one moment. Mr Whyte was well known as an asset stripper. He was renowned as an individual who more often than not engaged in pre-pack administration. It is my contention that Mr Murray envisaged a scenario where HMRC would not pursue him for his exposure at Rangers. He had hoped to pass the buck to Whyte.
Mr Murray’s guest at his dinner table in 1998, James Traynor, duly proclaimed Craig Whyte as a billionaire with wealth off the radar. In doing so Mr Traynor sought to exonerate Mr Murray from his part in the ensuing criminal farrago that will be played out in a Scottish courtroom in October. Mr Traynor has long been partial to a lamb dinner.
“I firmly believe until Rangers supporters point the finger at him, they will be in denial for all eternity.”
(https://johnjamessite.wordpress.com/2015/09/26/level-5-and-the-4th-estate/)
This comment, made by a contributor to one of my blogs was never raised in the Scottish Mainstream Media. So-called journalists, notably James Traynor, spent the weekend as guests of David Murray at his estate in Jersey in November 1998. Over dinner,Mr Murray set out his terms of engagement with the print media. Just over nine years later, when HMRC contacted Rangers in regard to their alleged abuse of EBT (February 2008), Murray sycophants turned a blind eye to the far reaching implications of the HMRC correspondence. It should also be noted that later in this year, the bailout of Halifax/Bank of Scotland by Lloyds Bank, ended the soft credit days where Mr Murray was able to write blank cheques, which amounted to almost a billion pounds, safe in the knowledge that Rangers supporting executives at The Bank of Scotland would bend over backwards to honour them. Given that executives at The Bank of Scotland gave CFC notice of one week to fully discharge their debts of £5.2m or they would appoint receivers (March 1994), their sobriquet as ‘The Bank of Rangers’ was well-earned.
Prior to the sale of Rangers to Craig Whyte, Lloyds appointed one of their executives to run Rangers. He reduced long term debt from over £30m to £18m. However, there was a time-bomb ticking from February 2008 which continues to wreak havoc with Rangers to this day. One of the co-authors of a book on Employee Benefit Trusts (EBT), eminent tax QC Andrew Thornhill, appeared as a witness in a four day hearing in July of this year. It is HMRC’s contention that EBT constitute disguised remuneration which is subject to tax.
One of the areas where I posit that Mr Murray may have abnegated on his fiduciary duties was in ignoring the EBTSO (EBT Settlement Offer) amnesty introduced by HMRC. As many as 5,000 employers engaged in EBTs. Where they have been used as a tax efficient alternative to cash bonuses, often using ‘sub-trusts’ to provide long term benefits to employees and/or their families, they invited scrutiny from HMRC.
HMRC introduced the Disguised Remuneration legislation (which took full effect from 6 April 2011) to counter the use of EBTs, in this manner, in the future, but it also stated that it would continue to pursue possible litigation cases where EBTs had been used in this way historically. HMRC encouraged employers to approach them with a view to reaching a settlement and ultimately avoiding the risk of litigation. It was a classic example of a ‘carrot and stick‘strategy. In my considered opinion, Mr Murray ignored the carrot and subsequently passed the stick to Craig Whyte.
No-one benefited more from his introduction of EBT than Mr Murray. He pocketed £6.3m. Former managers of Rangers picked up a total of circa £3.5m. The players ‘earned’ £32,311,283; with former captain Barry Ferguson picking up £2.5m. Neil McCann, now a pundit at Sky, banked £500,000. When you add the interests of former directors such as Campbell Ogilvie, who as secretary of the club administered the majority of these trusts, you arrive at a figure approaching £44m. According to HMRC there are other beneficiaries, to an amount of circa £26m, which have not been published.
After a fateful meeting between Mr Murray and Mr Paul Baxendale-Walker, the former signed up to a subscription model as per the pitch of the latter. However having initially engaged the services of Mr Baxendale-Walker, Mr Murray chose to oversee the roll-out of the tax-efficient model on his own.
The advantages of this model were compelling. When Mr Murray assigned £1m into a trust, from which a player could derive a loan, PAYE Tax and National Insurance of circa £718,000, including the employer’s 13.8% NI contribution, is avoided. As these trust contributions are not classed as earnings, profits are enhanced which leads to concerns about Corporation Tax liability. However this is covered by offsetting these profits against a loss making operation such as was the case with Rangers. Mr Murray was particularly attracted to applying some of the losses arising from his company’s ownership of Rangers to reducing the tax liabilities of Murray International Holdings plc.
Flushed with the prospect of success, Mr Murray then made a significant error. To provide a level of comfort to individuals whom would benefit from the trusts, he provided a letter, on RFC notepaper, which confirmed that should any third party ever compel beneficiaries to repay the loans, Rangers would subsequently reimburse them.
With the issue of side-letters, Mr Murray had transgressed one of the central precepts of the scheme, which is that there is no evidence of an employee having any entitlement to a loan from the EBT. The side-letters are the smoking gun of Murray’s maladministration of EBT. If he had continued with his subscription to Mr Baxendale-Walker’s services, I doubt whether he would have made these errors.
HMRC pursued MIH and Rangers with vigour once they realized that they would not participate in their amnesty. They are currently appealing a ruling that only upheld five of their thirty petitions to the court. Should they fail in this appeal, they will pursue the matter in The Supreme Court in London. They set out their position clearly when introducing the EBTSO amnesty. Mr Murray’s introduction of EBT had other ramifications. There was an allegation of ‘financial doping’ which undermined the bid of Charles Green’s new Rangers to adopt the Scottish Premiership share held by the old Rangers.
This is as good a point as any to dispel the notion of demotion, which continues in the reportage of Ian Black at The Scottish Sun. Sevco Scotland/The Rangers Football Club Ltd were not demoted. They applied to join the Scottish Football League when their bid to transfer SPL membership was rejected.
HMRC rejected the CVA, therefore Rangers could not continue as a going concern. Mr Green’s consortium paid £2m for the trading assets (£3.5m had been raised from creditors by Duff & Phelps) prior to the initiation of the liquidation of the old club/company, renamed Rangers 2012, in October 2012.
Did the HMRC demands in February 2008 compel Mr Murray to sell Rangers or did Lloyds bank hold a gun to his head? I am much more persuaded by the former narrative than the latter. We can trace back Mr Murray’s desire to sell the club to the summer of 2008. Was Mr Murray duped by Craig Whyte? I do not accept this for one moment. Mr Whyte was well known as an asset stripper. He was renowned as an individual who more often than not engaged in pre-pack administration. It is my contention that Mr Murray envisaged a scenario where HMRC would not pursue him for his exposure at Rangers. He had hoped to pass the buck to Whyte.
Mr Murray’s guest at his dinner table in 1998, James Traynor, duly proclaimed Craig Whyte as a billionaire with wealth off the radar. In doing so Mr Traynor sought to exonerate Mr Murray from his part in the ensuing criminal farrago that will be played out in a Scottish courtroom in October. Mr Traynor has long been partial to a lamb dinner.
Someone better set up another Holding Company if this guy's correct.
The Impact of The Green Trial on The Blue Pound
“The company will pay any reasonable professional (including, without limitation, legal and accounting) costs and expenses properly incurred by the employee after the date of this agreement which arise from his having to defend, or appear in any administrative, regulatory, judicial or quasi-judicial proceedings by a third party as a result of his having been chief executive of Rangers Football Club or the company.”
There has been no end of speculation, on social media, in regard to Green’s charges. I have consistently pointed out in three previous blogs, that Rangers/RIFC will be liable for the costs of Green’s defence. Rangers will not be able to hedge their costs with an insurer. No insurance policy will indemnify against criminal charges. The writ has been served, RIFC have responded in writing to the clerks at The Court of Session that they will respond to Green’s petition, and in these circumstances I would anticipate no more than a one-day hearing, with a decision on the same day. This hearing will be listed some time next week or the following week (5-9 October or 12-15 October) prior to the preliminary hearing at Glasgow High Court on October 16.
The QC that RIFC will instruct will make the case that Green engaged in an elaborate criminal enterprise, and that the costs of his defence are an annex of this enterprise. This defence will not be compelling. Green’s defence will almost certainly be on Rangers’ dollar. The charges against Green are now in the public domain. The writ specifies the instruction of junior and senior counsel.
Junior counsel charge circa £1350 per day, plus VAT, to attend court. A fee of £600 + VAT per hour to take meetings with clients and instructing solicitors, is the norm. Over the course of a legal year (ten months) I would expect no less than £390,000 in fees. I have touched on senior counsel in a previous blog. £3,500 per day would be the minimum, but costs of £10,000 per day are not uncommon. Note that Green’s compromise agreement includes the term ‘without limitation.’ This will be vigorously challenged in the Court of Session as the QC acting for RIFC will do his utmost to cap costs. I do not expect this challenge to be successful. Entry level for a ‘silk’ will be £840,000 inclusive of VAT. Instruction costs of £106,000 will take the annual total to £946,000. Should Green elect to engage a silk at £10,000 per day, costs including VAT will be £2.4m per annum with instruction costs of a further £106,000 as a minimum.
Then there are the costs of the instructing solicitors. I would expect a senior partner, junior partner and paralegal as a minimum at a cost £1200 per billable hour (inc VAT). Two thousand billable hours per annum could run to £2.4m. In my considered opinion, Green’s litigation costs, per annum, will be circa £3.74m – £5.3m. This year’s season ticket receipts (after VAT) are £7.3m. Green’ costs represent between 51.2% to 72.6% of our major source of income. Supporting Rangers for the next 3-7 years will result in 51.2p to 72.6p of our blue pound going directly to Green’s defence team.
For those who believe my costs are excessive, I would advise that they don’t include any expert or other witnesses that may be called by Green’s team. The charges extend to 20 pages of narrative. Whyte’s defence runs to 100,000 pages of narrative. There could be in excess of 250 witnesses, Each defendant will be cross examined by QC acting for the other 5 defendants. The Police Scotland case runs to 1,000 prima facie documents. The proceedings are likely to be the most high-profile criminal trial held in Scotland in recent years. My upper estimate of seven years may be ambitious.
Green/Sevco Scotland is accused of conducting a fraudulent initial pubic offering by which £22m was raised. Green/Sevco Scotland is further accused of fraudulently obtaining assets, from the IPO, and from administrators Duff & Phelps, to his/Sevco Scotland’s pecuniary advantage of many millions of pounds. He/Sevco Scotland is charged with acquiring equity capital in RIFC by fraudulent means. He is also charged with engaging in a conspiracy to commit fraudulent acts and transgressions relating to the Companies Act of 2006. Issuing a prospectus, listing assets that were obtained by fraudulent means, is an offence.
Imran Ahmad will be tried in absentia. If he remains in Pakistan, or chooses to shop in Dubai or lie on a beach in The Dominican Republic, he cannot be extradited. Ahmad could visit the majority of the Gulf states, Russia and China and remain untouched. It’s important to stress that Green only spent £2m when buying Ibrox/Auchenhowie and the brand names/crests. £3.5m was raised from creditors by Duff & Phelps. Green then sold these assets to RIFC for equity capital. He then sold this equity capital.
If convicted. the custodial sentence will, in my opinion, carry a tariff of up to 30 years (Fraud Act of 2006 permits a maximum of 10 years per offence). If the sentences were concurrent, as opposed to consecutive, a convicted defendant would be sent down for ten years.
There is also the not insignificant matter of court costs. If convicted, these may be apportioned to the defendants.
I cannot over-emphasise the impact on Rangers finances. The fate of RIFC as a going concern is predicated on the decision of a law Lord at The Court of Session.
.
The Impact of The Green Trial on The Blue Pound
“The company will pay any reasonable professional (including, without limitation, legal and accounting) costs and expenses properly incurred by the employee after the date of this agreement which arise from his having to defend, or appear in any administrative, regulatory, judicial or quasi-judicial proceedings by a third party as a result of his having been chief executive of Rangers Football Club or the company.”
There has been no end of speculation, on social media, in regard to Green’s charges. I have consistently pointed out in three previous blogs, that Rangers/RIFC will be liable for the costs of Green’s defence. Rangers will not be able to hedge their costs with an insurer. No insurance policy will indemnify against criminal charges. The writ has been served, RIFC have responded in writing to the clerks at The Court of Session that they will respond to Green’s petition, and in these circumstances I would anticipate no more than a one-day hearing, with a decision on the same day. This hearing will be listed some time next week or the following week (5-9 October or 12-15 October) prior to the preliminary hearing at Glasgow High Court on October 16.
The QC that RIFC will instruct will make the case that Green engaged in an elaborate criminal enterprise, and that the costs of his defence are an annex of this enterprise. This defence will not be compelling. Green’s defence will almost certainly be on Rangers’ dollar. The charges against Green are now in the public domain. The writ specifies the instruction of junior and senior counsel.
Junior counsel charge circa £1350 per day, plus VAT, to attend court. A fee of £600 + VAT per hour to take meetings with clients and instructing solicitors, is the norm. Over the course of a legal year (ten months) I would expect no less than £390,000 in fees. I have touched on senior counsel in a previous blog. £3,500 per day would be the minimum, but costs of £10,000 per day are not uncommon. Note that Green’s compromise agreement includes the term ‘without limitation.’ This will be vigorously challenged in the Court of Session as the QC acting for RIFC will do his utmost to cap costs. I do not expect this challenge to be successful. Entry level for a ‘silk’ will be £840,000 inclusive of VAT. Instruction costs of £106,000 will take the annual total to £946,000. Should Green elect to engage a silk at £10,000 per day, costs including VAT will be £2.4m per annum with instruction costs of a further £106,000 as a minimum.
Then there are the costs of the instructing solicitors. I would expect a senior partner, junior partner and paralegal as a minimum at a cost £1200 per billable hour (inc VAT). Two thousand billable hours per annum could run to £2.4m. In my considered opinion, Green’s litigation costs, per annum, will be circa £3.74m – £5.3m. This year’s season ticket receipts (after VAT) are £7.3m. Green’ costs represent between 51.2% to 72.6% of our major source of income. Supporting Rangers for the next 3-7 years will result in 51.2p to 72.6p of our blue pound going directly to Green’s defence team.
For those who believe my costs are excessive, I would advise that they don’t include any expert or other witnesses that may be called by Green’s team. The charges extend to 20 pages of narrative. Whyte’s defence runs to 100,000 pages of narrative. There could be in excess of 250 witnesses, Each defendant will be cross examined by QC acting for the other 5 defendants. The Police Scotland case runs to 1,000 prima facie documents. The proceedings are likely to be the most high-profile criminal trial held in Scotland in recent years. My upper estimate of seven years may be ambitious.
Green/Sevco Scotland is accused of conducting a fraudulent initial pubic offering by which £22m was raised. Green/Sevco Scotland is further accused of fraudulently obtaining assets, from the IPO, and from administrators Duff & Phelps, to his/Sevco Scotland’s pecuniary advantage of many millions of pounds. He/Sevco Scotland is charged with acquiring equity capital in RIFC by fraudulent means. He is also charged with engaging in a conspiracy to commit fraudulent acts and transgressions relating to the Companies Act of 2006. Issuing a prospectus, listing assets that were obtained by fraudulent means, is an offence.
Imran Ahmad will be tried in absentia. If he remains in Pakistan, or chooses to shop in Dubai or lie on a beach in The Dominican Republic, he cannot be extradited. Ahmad could visit the majority of the Gulf states, Russia and China and remain untouched. It’s important to stress that Green only spent £2m when buying Ibrox/Auchenhowie and the brand names/crests. £3.5m was raised from creditors by Duff & Phelps. Green then sold these assets to RIFC for equity capital. He then sold this equity capital.
If convicted. the custodial sentence will, in my opinion, carry a tariff of up to 30 years (Fraud Act of 2006 permits a maximum of 10 years per offence). If the sentences were concurrent, as opposed to consecutive, a convicted defendant would be sent down for ten years.
There is also the not insignificant matter of court costs. If convicted, these may be apportioned to the defendants.
I cannot over-emphasise the impact on Rangers finances. The fate of RIFC as a going concern is predicated on the decision of a law Lord at The Court of Session.
.