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FORMER Rangers chief executive Charles Green has said he expects to see criminal charges laid against Scotland’s most senior law officer, prosecutors and the police over malicious club fraud prosecutions.
He has branded police “corrupt” after winning over £6m from the Lord Advocate in a settlement over his £20m claim for being wrongfully prosecuted in the club fraud case.
Mr Green’s settlement came in the light of admissions made by the Crown in another case brought by businessmen David Whitehouse and Paul Clark of Duff and Phelps who acted as administrators when the club financially imploded in February, 2012.
Prosecutors admitted Mr Whitehouse and Mr Clark were wrongfully arrested in a malicious prosecution and the two men sought a total of £20.8 million from the Crown Office and Police Scotland.
But they later settled their action with each of them receiving £10.3 million each – their legal bills, thought to be worth £3 million each, were also paid for.
Mr Green, a 68-year-old businessman was arrested with several other men, including Mr Whitehouse and Mr Clark following a police probe into alleged fraud in relation to the sale of the current Scottish champions to businessman Craig Whyte in 2011.
READ MORE: Ex-Rangers executive Charles Green wins over £6m from Lord Advocate in malicious club fraud prosecution
Mr Green, whose Sevco consortium, bought the assets of the club business in liquidation nine years ago for £5.5m was due to receive compensation after Crown lawyers accepted he was subjected to a malicious fraud prosecution.
Mr Green, now based in Dubai, was told three years ago he would face no further proceedings in connection with the case as prosecutors said there is “now no evidence of a crime”.
He has now hit out at his time at Rangers and the actions in relation to his arrest.
“We’ve got a system that’s indefensible and people’s lives have been ruined. That’s why I’m angry,” he said on a podcast with sports presenters Richard Keys and Andy Gray.
“The criminal charges are going to be against the police, against the Lord Advocate, against the whole system up there. There will be criminal proceedings taken against a whole raft of people…
“It is scandalous that has been allowed to run for this long.”
“What people don’t realise is the only reason I was arrested is because the case against Duff and Phelps and Craig Whyte was collapsing. They arrested them a year before and they hadn’t took them to trial. That’s why it was vital that they arrested me.”
Mr Green was told three years ago he 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-a-half-year long proceedings which saw only Mr Whyte face trial and led to no convictions.
Part of Mr Green’s claim related to losses made from two businesses after he was prosecuted.
The Lord Advocate has previously made a public apology to Mr Green as the damages case was due to be progressed.
He said: “The fans really got behind me and embraced me and that was the start of my downfall because lots of people didn’t want to see Charles Green succeed. The quicker they could get me out of the club the better. That’s what happened.
“And, of course, what we are going to see – and I understand the new Lord Advocate has mentioned it – is that once all of these compensation claims have been finished, there will be criminal proceedings.”
He said his step-brother who had 30 years in the police said he could not believe that a force that he “worked passionately for could be like that”.
“And, of course, now he’s admitted the police force is corrupt,” he said.
After the out of court settlement, his solicitor Greg Whyte of Jones Whyte said that while there was an “acceptable offer” in a “landmark settlement” that money was never going to be enough having hit by reputational damage by the Rangers affair.
Mr Green said that his son – who is currently studying at Edinburgh University – has refused to disclose the identity of his father to his fellow students.
“My son is at Edinburgh University. Only three people know I’m his father.
“It is best to keep it like that but that’s not right
“How does a payout to me compensate for my son who can’t admit who his father is?”
Craig Whyte, who ended up being the last man standing in the long-running case, was cleared in the summer of 2017 of all charges in connection with his 2011 club purchase from Sir David Murray.
Mr Green added: “It’s important to understand that I was told, before I was arrested, when I was in Dubai my solicitor rang me to say, ‘Police Scotland want to interview you under caution’.
“Of course, being in Dubai I didn’t need to come back, however, if you do come back it doesn’t matter what you say, you will be arrested.
“I said, ‘I don’t want to sit here in Dubai for the rest of my life worried about an Interpol arrest warrant. I’ve got nothing to hide or nothing to fear. I’ll come back.’ “As a precaution, they arrested Charles the Yorkshire idiot. And that gave them the opportunity to go back to court and say, ‘We’ve just now discovered that there’s more than these guys involved in the conspiracy,’.
“And they got an automatic one year. They only had three months to get a conviction against Whyte and against Clark and Whitehouse but the minute they arrested me they got another 12 month extension.
“When I did the interview under caution that was surreal. And I’ve never been in this position ever in my life.”
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