Rangers chairman accuses BBC of 'witch hunt'

Rangers chairman Craig Whyte has accused the BBC of conducting a "witch hunt" against the Glasgow football club.

The BBC claimed to have uncovered evidence that Whyte lied to a civil court last year by saying that his seven-year ban on being a company director did not relate to the treatment of creditors.

The corporation claimed that the judge who originally set the ban had said that company assets were "put out of the reach of the creditors".

The allegations followed a BBC Scotland documentary on Whyte and the football club, which resulted in Rangers withdrawing "all co-operation" with the BBC over what it said was a "pre-determined negative attitude" towards the club.

In a statement issued yesterday, a spokesman for Whyte said that the latest accusations were "defamatory" and claimed that the BBC was on a "witch hunt".

"These accusations, which are simply a variation on what the BBC already alleged in a documentary riddled with inaccuracies and falsehoods and broadcast last year, are defamatory and clearly form part of a concerted campaign by the BBC to embarrass Craig Whyte personally and to damage Rangers Football Club. This is clearly a witch hunt by the BBC," he said.

The spokesman indicated that Whyte "totally refutes the scurrilous allegations" that he could have committed perjury in a court of law, saying that his responses were "given truthfully and to the best of his recollection".

"In the BBC's documentary last year, the accusation was made that Mr Whyte could have been guilty of criminal activity. Yet, neither before nor since the broadcast, has there been any criminal investigation into any aspect of Mr Whyte's business dealings," he added.

"This renewed attack by the BBC, as with matters that were aired by the BBC last year, are in the hands of Mr Whyte's lawyers and will be contested robustly. There has been no offer by the BBC to provide any documentary proof in support of their accusations.

"Mr Whyte is in no doubt that this latest attack is part of a concerted campaign to damage both him and Rangers FC and follows the decision by the club to withdraw co-operation with the corporation. This was as a result of the documentary broadcast last year which also made a series of false and defamatory claims."