Rangers could still face £250k Lord Nimmo fine

Sandy Easdale now controls over a quarter of shares in Rangers. Picture: Johnston Press

Rangers could face an action from the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) over a tax scheme used by the oldco club.

A Lord Nimmo Smith-chaired commission, which was independently appointed by the SPL, fined Rangers Football Club PLC’s (RFC PLC) £250,000 for not declaring Employee Benefit Trusts to the relevant footballing authorities.

Lord Nimmo Smith’s report stated that the current owners should not be held responsible for any breaches made by the previous company.

SPFL lawyers, however, are understood to be examining whether or not the money can be recovered from the newco Rangers under an agreement which allowed the club in to the Scottish FA.

The SPFL, formed out of a merger with the SPL, is looking into whether the fine, issued in February, can be retrieved under an agreement that led to the transfer of Rangers’s Scottish FA membership.

Rangers went into liquidation in October 2012 with liquidators BDO currently examining claims. It is thought that if the SPFL where to apply to BDO then they would receive a smaller amount.

Rangers signed an agreement with the Scottish FA, known as the five way agreement, which gave football authorities the power to recover football debts from the owners of newco Rangers.

The Ibrox club were not granted membership until all football debts had been cleared.

The SPFL have declined to comment.