Rangers FC confirms BBC allegation that Craig Whyte had company director ban
Rangers FC have confirmed its chairman and majority shareholder, Craig Whyte, was at one time disqualified as a company director.
The disqualification, as reported by The Drum at the time, was revealed in a recent controversial BBC Scotland documentary.
The club admitted yesterday that Whyte was disqualified for seven years - with the ban beginning 11 years ago.
In a separate announcement, the club revealed that its net debt for the most recent financial year was down from £27m to £14m.Its turnover was also up by nearly £1m.
BBC Scotland News reported last night: “The disqualification announcement should have been made to the Plus stock exchange, on which Rangers shares are traded.
“The figures are included in unaudited accounts published through the Plus exchange. They also show that net current liabilities have risen sharply, from £21.5m to £34.2m.”
Following the BBC Scotland documentary on October 20 – ‘Rangers: The Inside Story’ - Whyte said he would take legal action over the allegations made of criminality in his past dealings.
The documentary heard from a government agency that he controlled a company despite being banned as a director.
At the time, a spokesman for Whyte said he "strenuously refutes" the "unfounded and defamatory allegations" allegations aired in the programme.
In a statement, the spokesman said: "Craig Whyte strenuously refutes these unfounded and defamatory allegations and has instructed his lawyers, Carter Ruck, to commence immediate legal proceedings against the BBC.
"Any repetition of these false accusations will also be met with legal action."
In response, a spokesman for BBC Scotland had said: "We stand by the investigation which was produced according to our rigorous editorial standards on fairness, accuracy and impartiality.
"As the programme makes clear, Craig Whyte took the opportunity to respond to questions which were put to him during the course of the production."
Whyte's comments on the documentary came two days after Rangers broke off relations with the BBC in the run up to the programme.