Leeds United: Is Cellino’s buy-out dead in the water?
Yorkshire Evening Post 19/3/14
United’s Italian suitor could be waving goodbye to his luxury yacht and his hopes of taking over at Elland Road, writes Phil Hay.
Nelie, the luxury yacht which became the focal point of Massimo Cellino’s takeover of Leeds United, is one aspect of a wider tax investigation stalking the Italian.
The Cagliari owner’s proposed purchase of Leeds is in danger of collapse after a court in Sardinia fined him more than £500,000 and confiscated his boat following a ruling that he avoided import duty owed on the vessel in 2010.
Cellino’s lawyer, Giovanni Cocco, told the YEP that the conviction for tax evasion was “unjust” and said his client would appeal. But the Football League will use yesterday’s verdict to reach a decision on whether to pass Cellino as fit and proper and sanction his £25m buy-out of Leeds.
The case of Nelie – a yacht which Cellino claimed was owned by a US company and therefore exempt from EU tax charges – has held attention in Leeds for the past fortnight but he has other cases awaiting him and other investigations surrounding him.
Charges of embezzlement relating to the construction of the Is Arenas, a temporary stadium for Cagliari in Sardinia, have been well documented but Cocco confirmed that Cellino faces allegations that he evaded tax on a second yacht – Lucky23 – and a Range Rover registered to his address in America.
The Italian authorities claim Cellino failed to pay more than £70,000 of import duty due on Lucky23 and around £10,000 due on the car. Cellino denies any wrongdoing.
Prosecutors in Sardinia have also been looking into the transfer of striker David Suazo from Cagliari to Internazionale in 2007, alleging that the Serie A club – owned and controlled by Cellino since 1992 – owe the public purse over £600,000 from the deal.
A decision from the Football League on Cellino’s takeover of Leeds appears to rest solely on the outcome of yesterday’s judgement and the governing body will wait until it receives documents from the Italian courts before deciding whether Cellino’s conviction should bar him from buying the club. But the catalogue of cases involving Cellino raises questions over the extent to which current United owner Gulf Finance House analysed the 57-year-old’s background and considered potential complications prior to reaching a deal with the Italian on February 7.
Football League rules state that individuals are prohibited from becoming owners and directors of any of its member clubs if they have “unspent convictions for offences of dishonesty, corruption, perverting the course of justice, serious breaches of the Companies Act or conspiracy to commit any of those offences”.
The regulations add: “This applies regardless of the country in which the crime occurred, or the date of the offence.”
Cellino is at home in Miami and did not attend yesterday’s hearing in Sardinia but in an email to the YEP, Cocco said: “At today’s hearing, Cellino was sentenced to a fine of 600,000 euros and (the court) ordered the confiscation of the vessel.
“With regard to the judgment, I declare that I consider it unjust and that I will (appeal).”
Cellino, who first took an interest in buying Leeds almost six months ago, has injected a substantial seven-figure sum into the club since agreeing to buy a majority stake of 75 per cent from Gulf Finance House.
GFH, a Bahraini investment bank, has owned United since December 2012 when it bought out ex-Leeds chairman Ken Bates but the company has been actively looking to sell a controlling interest at Elland Road for the past year.
A takeover bid by the Sport Capital consortium – a group involving United managing director David Haigh and Andrew Flowers, the MD of club shirt sponsor Enterprise Insurance – collapsed in the last week of January, leading GFH to strike a deal in principle with Cellino two days later.
Since then, loans offered by Cellino have helped to fund wages and transfers at Elland Road, and a debt of £1.5m owed to Enterprise Insurance was paid in full earlier this month, staving off a winding-up petition.
But last week the Italian told a national newspaper that he would provide no further funding until the Football League approved his buy-out. “Things cannot carry on like this,” he said. “I have to wait for the decision of the Football League before I put more money in.”
Leeds are under heavy financial pressure and are likely to post losses of around £11m in the current financial year. Their accounts for 2012-13 are due to be submitted to Companies House by the end of this month.
Haigh, who will be appointed chief executive at Elland Road if Cellino completes his takeover, spoke out last week to deny suggestions that loans made to the club by the Italian could force United back into administration, despite the club’s delicate position.
“The club is in good hands,” Haigh said. “It has money and there is no chance of the club going into administration. None whatsoever. “The club is not in any kind of precarious financial position. Either now or in the future. It’s not true and never has been.”
Haigh also backed Cellino’s takeover, saying the Italian was “someone I think has many of the right attributes to take the club forward. I haven’t seen all of those attributes in anyone else while I’ve been here.”
GFH has made no comment on Cellino’s conviction and, having hoped to see his takeover confirmed this week, is unlikely to say anything until the Football League delivers a verdict.
A week ago the bank was asked by the YEP what it planned to do if the Italian’s buy-out was rejected but it did not respond.
Together Leeds, a consortium fronted by former Manchester United International managing director Mike Farnan, has been watching developments for several weeks after claiming it was prevented from bidding to buy United while GFH negotiated first with Sport Capital and later with Cellino.
Farnan, whose group failed with a reported £7m bid for Leeds midway through November, said last month that it would be ready to make another offer if Cellino’s attempt to buy Leeds fell through. Farnan was unavailable for comment last night.
United’s Italian suitor could be waving goodbye to his luxury yacht and his hopes of taking over at Elland Road, writes Phil Hay.
Nelie, the luxury yacht which became the focal point of Massimo Cellino’s takeover of Leeds United, is one aspect of a wider tax investigation stalking the Italian.
The Cagliari owner’s proposed purchase of Leeds is in danger of collapse after a court in Sardinia fined him more than £500,000 and confiscated his boat following a ruling that he avoided import duty owed on the vessel in 2010.
Cellino’s lawyer, Giovanni Cocco, told the YEP that the conviction for tax evasion was “unjust” and said his client would appeal. But the Football League will use yesterday’s verdict to reach a decision on whether to pass Cellino as fit and proper and sanction his £25m buy-out of Leeds.
The case of Nelie – a yacht which Cellino claimed was owned by a US company and therefore exempt from EU tax charges – has held attention in Leeds for the past fortnight but he has other cases awaiting him and other investigations surrounding him.
Charges of embezzlement relating to the construction of the Is Arenas, a temporary stadium for Cagliari in Sardinia, have been well documented but Cocco confirmed that Cellino faces allegations that he evaded tax on a second yacht – Lucky23 – and a Range Rover registered to his address in America.
The Italian authorities claim Cellino failed to pay more than £70,000 of import duty due on Lucky23 and around £10,000 due on the car. Cellino denies any wrongdoing.
Prosecutors in Sardinia have also been looking into the transfer of striker David Suazo from Cagliari to Internazionale in 2007, alleging that the Serie A club – owned and controlled by Cellino since 1992 – owe the public purse over £600,000 from the deal.
A decision from the Football League on Cellino’s takeover of Leeds appears to rest solely on the outcome of yesterday’s judgement and the governing body will wait until it receives documents from the Italian courts before deciding whether Cellino’s conviction should bar him from buying the club. But the catalogue of cases involving Cellino raises questions over the extent to which current United owner Gulf Finance House analysed the 57-year-old’s background and considered potential complications prior to reaching a deal with the Italian on February 7.
Football League rules state that individuals are prohibited from becoming owners and directors of any of its member clubs if they have “unspent convictions for offences of dishonesty, corruption, perverting the course of justice, serious breaches of the Companies Act or conspiracy to commit any of those offences”.
The regulations add: “This applies regardless of the country in which the crime occurred, or the date of the offence.”
Cellino is at home in Miami and did not attend yesterday’s hearing in Sardinia but in an email to the YEP, Cocco said: “At today’s hearing, Cellino was sentenced to a fine of 600,000 euros and (the court) ordered the confiscation of the vessel.
“With regard to the judgment, I declare that I consider it unjust and that I will (appeal).”
Cellino, who first took an interest in buying Leeds almost six months ago, has injected a substantial seven-figure sum into the club since agreeing to buy a majority stake of 75 per cent from Gulf Finance House.
GFH, a Bahraini investment bank, has owned United since December 2012 when it bought out ex-Leeds chairman Ken Bates but the company has been actively looking to sell a controlling interest at Elland Road for the past year.
A takeover bid by the Sport Capital consortium – a group involving United managing director David Haigh and Andrew Flowers, the MD of club shirt sponsor Enterprise Insurance – collapsed in the last week of January, leading GFH to strike a deal in principle with Cellino two days later.
Since then, loans offered by Cellino have helped to fund wages and transfers at Elland Road, and a debt of £1.5m owed to Enterprise Insurance was paid in full earlier this month, staving off a winding-up petition.
But last week the Italian told a national newspaper that he would provide no further funding until the Football League approved his buy-out. “Things cannot carry on like this,” he said. “I have to wait for the decision of the Football League before I put more money in.”
Leeds are under heavy financial pressure and are likely to post losses of around £11m in the current financial year. Their accounts for 2012-13 are due to be submitted to Companies House by the end of this month.
Haigh, who will be appointed chief executive at Elland Road if Cellino completes his takeover, spoke out last week to deny suggestions that loans made to the club by the Italian could force United back into administration, despite the club’s delicate position.
“The club is in good hands,” Haigh said. “It has money and there is no chance of the club going into administration. None whatsoever. “The club is not in any kind of precarious financial position. Either now or in the future. It’s not true and never has been.”
Haigh also backed Cellino’s takeover, saying the Italian was “someone I think has many of the right attributes to take the club forward. I haven’t seen all of those attributes in anyone else while I’ve been here.”
GFH has made no comment on Cellino’s conviction and, having hoped to see his takeover confirmed this week, is unlikely to say anything until the Football League delivers a verdict.
A week ago the bank was asked by the YEP what it planned to do if the Italian’s buy-out was rejected but it did not respond.
Together Leeds, a consortium fronted by former Manchester United International managing director Mike Farnan, has been watching developments for several weeks after claiming it was prevented from bidding to buy United while GFH negotiated first with Sport Capital and later with Cellino.
Farnan, whose group failed with a reported £7m bid for Leeds midway through November, said last month that it would be ready to make another offer if Cellino’s attempt to buy Leeds fell through. Farnan was unavailable for comment last night.