Glasgow High Court Hears Craig Whyte 'Laughed' At Rangers Takeover Warning

A jury heard that Craig Whyte would "just laugh when his company's lawyer advised him not to buy" Scottish football side Rangers, according to the BBC. Giving evidence to Whyte's fraud trial at the High Court in Glasgow, Gary Withey said that he thought the businessman was "mad" to be trying to take over the club. Whyte denied a charge of "acquiring Rangers by fraud" in May '11. He also denied a "second charge under the Companies Act." Withey told the court that he repeatedly told Whyte "not to proceed with the deal" to buy the football club because he claimed, "I didn't like the feel of the transaction." Jurors heard Withey was "concerned" that the Murray group "would not go through with the takeover" if it knew how the deal would be funded (BBC, 5/16). In London, Grant McCabe reported Withey said that he warned Whyte not to go ahead with a purchase because he claimed that the advisers of David Murray, then the owner, had not been "open and candid" (LONDON TIMES, 5/16).