Former Rangers captain Ferguson declared bankrupt in wake of landmark tax case

Former Rangers captain Barry Ferguson, who received £2.5 million through the now notorious Employee Benefit Trusts (EBT) ‘loan’ scheme while playing for the Glasgow club, has been made bankrupt with debts of more than £1.4 million.

Ferguson, who was also captain of the Scottish national team, applied for his own bankruptcy after running up debts of £1,425,633.

It was approved by Scotland’s insolvency service, the Accountant In Bankruptcy, earlier this month, with Maureen Leslie of Glasgow-based MLM Solutions appointed as trustee.

According to reports, the midfielder was declared insolvent after failing to settle large bills owed to the taxman and comes after Rangers lost a battle with HMRC at the Supreme Court earlier this month, where it was found that the EBT loans used to pay a number of Rangers players were taxable.

Ferguson, who lives in a gated home near Larkhall, Lanarkshire, has declared that he has only £3,000 worth of assets available to help pay off his creditors.

Ferguson, 39, who recently stepped down as manager of Clyde, also invested in a film production partnership called Eclipse which has targeted by HMRC after being ruled to be a tax-avoidance scheme.