Ex-Rangers owner Murray seeks 'clarification' over finances since Whyte takeover

The former owner of Rangers who sold the club to Craig Whyte is seeking "clarification" over Ibrox finances.

Sir David Murray sold the Glasgow club to the businessman for a nominal £1 last May with Rangers owing Lloyds Banking Group £18m at the time.

He is asking questions over financial arrangements put in place since the takeover. Mr Whyte recently confirmed a deal he struck at Ibrox with London firm Ticketus, which has seen future season ticket sales used to secure a loan of around £20m to help run the club.

The Murray Group also said in a statement that it did not owe any debt to Ticketus when the takeover took place. Mr Whyte has claimed the ticket scheme had previous been used during Sir David’s 22-year reign at Ibrox.

This is despite Mr Whyte being quoted in a recent Sunday newspaper interview as saying "several million" had to be repaid "from an old ticket arrangement from the previous board" when he bought Rangers.

A spokesman for Murray Group said: "Following recent press allegations we have also sought clarification of the financing and security arrangements which the purchaser appears to have put in place.

"We can confirm that, at the time of the takeover, there was no debt owed by the club to Ticketus."

On Thursday, former Rangers chairman Alastair Johnston told the BBC he requested the government’s Insolvency Service to investigate "certain financial arrangements" surrounding Mr Whyte’s takeover of the club.

He told BBC Sport: "I have had numerous approaches following the recent revelations in the press about the acquisition of Rangers Football Club and the use of future season ticket money.

"I believe this is a prevalent view amongst Rangers' stakeholders who are now demanding full transparency about the funding of the acquisition of the club, its current financial status, and most importantly, the way forward.

"Therefore, in my capacity as the chairman of the club during the period when it has been alleged that certain financial arrangements of concern were executed by the buyer, I have formally requested that the Intelligence & Enforcement Directorate investigate and clarify this matter once and for all which is surely in the interests of all concerned."

The Insolvency Service said it could not confirm or deny whether it had received a request from Mr Johnston and if an investigation into the takeover is being carried out.

A spokeswoman for the service said: "The Insolvency Service cannot confirm or deny details of any cases it may be investigating as this is confidential information.

"The Insolvency Service has discretionary powers under the Companies Act to investigate live companies where it appears that there has been misconduct in relation to the companies' affairs."

Mr Whyte was not available for comment, but his spokesman said: "The chairman and the current board of Rangers football club have nothing to fear from any invesvtation by any agency and deplores the continuially misguided criticism by former board members."

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