Yorkshire Post 13/6/07
MP demands answers on Leeds United rescue deal
By Rob Waugh
EXCLUSIVE: Police are being urged to investigate whether criminal activity, including money laundering, was involved in the controversial financial collapse and immediate resurrection of Leeds United under the same owners.
A Yorkshire MP has called on the Serious and Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) and the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) to probe the involvement of anonymously-owned offshore companies in forcing through the resale of Leeds, which had gone into administration, to a company represented by Ken Bates – even though it was claimed they had no connection with the club chairman.
Phil Willis, a Leeds United fan and Liberal Democrat MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough, is highly critical of the way Leeds went into administration with debts of £35m and then was immediately resold to the same owners on the same day, subject to approval by creditors. The deal was voted through by creditors last week after they were told by the administrator, accountancy firm KPMG, that offshore companies with a key stake in the club would only accept Mr Bates's offer despite other bids for the club offering a greater return on money owed.
Mr Willis, who has used the device of an early day motion in the Commons to raise what happened at Leeds, said: "What puzzles me is that within 24 hours what was an unsaleable portfolio became a potentially highly profitable portfolio. I think that requires some examination.
"It's not unreasonable for fans and certainly creditors to know who are the people who are writing off these large sums of money and on what basis."
Mr Bates responded yesterday by calling Mr Willis "stupid".
A club statement issued later added: "We challenge him to repeat his allegations outside the House of Commons and we will see him in court if he does."
The early day motion urges SOCA "to investigate whether criminal activity including money laundering has taken place" during the financial turmoil at Leeds.
Mr Willis is concerned about the general lack of transparency in football, including transfer dealings, and also uses the motion to call on the Government to make it a criminal offence for those involved in the ownership of football clubs not to openly declare their interest.
At the heart of the issue is Leeds's largest creditor, Astor Investment Holdings, registered in the British Virgin Islands, which effectively played a controlling hand during the club's recent administration by refusing to support any other survival package other than that put forward by Mr Bates.
As a result of it and another offshore company, Krato, registered in Nevis in the West Indies, using their block vote, both companies lost virtually all their combined investment in the club of more than £15m because the offer to creditors from Mr Bates was just 1p for every pound they were owed.
The offer was voted through at a creditors meeting earlier this month, leaving Mr Bates with a potentially profitable club now permanently divorced from its £35m debt which could be attractive to a would-be buyer.
Astor also blocked attempts to put a clause into the company voluntary agreement, the mechanism used to re-emerge from administration, which would stop Mr Bates from reselling the club for a period of five years or pay a penalty to creditors. Instead, the club could be resold in six months.With other bidders for the club offering more money to creditors, the actions of Astor and Krato were questioned by a significant number of creditors who specifically queried why Astor and Krato would agree to give up so much money and whether there was any connection between them and Mr Bates.
KPMG told creditors it had received a letter from Astor, which had taken on Krato's debt of over £2m, saying it was not connected to Mr Bates who in turn, along with his long-term business associate, Mark Taylor, had provided sworn statements that they were not connected to Astor.
But during the creditors meeting it transpired that Leeds United's last company accounts included a direct reference to Astor having "an interest in Forward Sports Fund", the club's owners and the company Mr Bates represents, as of June 30 last year.
The administrator admitted the link had not been known, but Mr Taylor told the meeting: "There was an association on June 30 ; there isn't now."
Hundreds of small creditors lost out as a result of the deal the administrator agreed with Mr Bates but the biggest loser was the taxman, with £7m lost in unpaid taxes.
Mr Willis's motion calls on HM Revenue and Customs to take action to recover the debt and questions the role of KPMG, specifically why they didn't "ascertain the beneficiaries" behind Astor and Krato during their investigations in the administration period.
All creditors have 28 days from the day the deal was voted through to challenge the outcome but HM Revenue and Customs have so far declined to say what action, if any, they will take.
A spokesman for KPMG said: "As far as we are concerned there are no concerns about money laundering and if we had concerns we would report them in the normal way."
The MP also raises the similarities in ownership between Chelsea and Leeds, which both had significant involvement from offshore companies and, questioning whether they were connected to Mr Bates, calls on the Financial Services Authority (FSA) to investigate.
The FSA did investigate the ownership of Chelsea after Mr Bates sold the club to Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich in 2003 but ultimately took no further action. It found that Mr Bates did not own shares in the offshore companies but couldn't reach a conclusive view as to whether Mr Bates had any degree of control over them.
The FSA, SOCA and the SFO all said they could not comment last night.
MP demands answers on Leeds United rescue deal
By Rob Waugh
EXCLUSIVE: Police are being urged to investigate whether criminal activity, including money laundering, was involved in the controversial financial collapse and immediate resurrection of Leeds United under the same owners.
A Yorkshire MP has called on the Serious and Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) and the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) to probe the involvement of anonymously-owned offshore companies in forcing through the resale of Leeds, which had gone into administration, to a company represented by Ken Bates – even though it was claimed they had no connection with the club chairman.
Phil Willis, a Leeds United fan and Liberal Democrat MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough, is highly critical of the way Leeds went into administration with debts of £35m and then was immediately resold to the same owners on the same day, subject to approval by creditors. The deal was voted through by creditors last week after they were told by the administrator, accountancy firm KPMG, that offshore companies with a key stake in the club would only accept Mr Bates's offer despite other bids for the club offering a greater return on money owed.
Mr Willis, who has used the device of an early day motion in the Commons to raise what happened at Leeds, said: "What puzzles me is that within 24 hours what was an unsaleable portfolio became a potentially highly profitable portfolio. I think that requires some examination.
"It's not unreasonable for fans and certainly creditors to know who are the people who are writing off these large sums of money and on what basis."
Mr Bates responded yesterday by calling Mr Willis "stupid".
A club statement issued later added: "We challenge him to repeat his allegations outside the House of Commons and we will see him in court if he does."
The early day motion urges SOCA "to investigate whether criminal activity including money laundering has taken place" during the financial turmoil at Leeds.
Mr Willis is concerned about the general lack of transparency in football, including transfer dealings, and also uses the motion to call on the Government to make it a criminal offence for those involved in the ownership of football clubs not to openly declare their interest.
At the heart of the issue is Leeds's largest creditor, Astor Investment Holdings, registered in the British Virgin Islands, which effectively played a controlling hand during the club's recent administration by refusing to support any other survival package other than that put forward by Mr Bates.
As a result of it and another offshore company, Krato, registered in Nevis in the West Indies, using their block vote, both companies lost virtually all their combined investment in the club of more than £15m because the offer to creditors from Mr Bates was just 1p for every pound they were owed.
The offer was voted through at a creditors meeting earlier this month, leaving Mr Bates with a potentially profitable club now permanently divorced from its £35m debt which could be attractive to a would-be buyer.
Astor also blocked attempts to put a clause into the company voluntary agreement, the mechanism used to re-emerge from administration, which would stop Mr Bates from reselling the club for a period of five years or pay a penalty to creditors. Instead, the club could be resold in six months.With other bidders for the club offering more money to creditors, the actions of Astor and Krato were questioned by a significant number of creditors who specifically queried why Astor and Krato would agree to give up so much money and whether there was any connection between them and Mr Bates.
KPMG told creditors it had received a letter from Astor, which had taken on Krato's debt of over £2m, saying it was not connected to Mr Bates who in turn, along with his long-term business associate, Mark Taylor, had provided sworn statements that they were not connected to Astor.
But during the creditors meeting it transpired that Leeds United's last company accounts included a direct reference to Astor having "an interest in Forward Sports Fund", the club's owners and the company Mr Bates represents, as of June 30 last year.
The administrator admitted the link had not been known, but Mr Taylor told the meeting: "There was an association on June 30 ; there isn't now."
Hundreds of small creditors lost out as a result of the deal the administrator agreed with Mr Bates but the biggest loser was the taxman, with £7m lost in unpaid taxes.
Mr Willis's motion calls on HM Revenue and Customs to take action to recover the debt and questions the role of KPMG, specifically why they didn't "ascertain the beneficiaries" behind Astor and Krato during their investigations in the administration period.
All creditors have 28 days from the day the deal was voted through to challenge the outcome but HM Revenue and Customs have so far declined to say what action, if any, they will take.
A spokesman for KPMG said: "As far as we are concerned there are no concerns about money laundering and if we had concerns we would report them in the normal way."
The MP also raises the similarities in ownership between Chelsea and Leeds, which both had significant involvement from offshore companies and, questioning whether they were connected to Mr Bates, calls on the Financial Services Authority (FSA) to investigate.
The FSA did investigate the ownership of Chelsea after Mr Bates sold the club to Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich in 2003 but ultimately took no further action. It found that Mr Bates did not own shares in the offshore companies but couldn't reach a conclusive view as to whether Mr Bates had any degree of control over them.
The FSA, SOCA and the SFO all said they could not comment last night.
