Former Rangers owner Craig Whyte declared bankrupt

Craig Whyte, the former Rangers Football Club owner who led club to liquidation in 2012, has now himself been declared bankrupt.

The news comes in the wake of losing an £18m damages claim brought by ticketing firm Ticketus which successfully sued the 44-year-old for damages in 2013 over his part in the takeover of the Ibrox club in 2011.

The 44-year-old was confirmed as insolvent in the wake of the High Court battle with Ticketus, which accused him of luring it into a deal on false pretences.

The ticketing firm obtained a judgment in its favour relating to allegations of a misrepresentation by Whyte during a ticket purchase agreement with the Glasgow club.

The bankruptcy petition was filed after Whyte failed to pay a judgment debt currently worth £20.8 million, including interest and legal costs.

The bankruptcy petition was filed after Mr Whyte failed to pay a judgment debt, currently worth some £20.8m, including interest and legal costs.

Mr Whyte also faces criminal charges over his part in the Rangers takeover.

It was alleged that Whyte had agreed to sell three years’ worth of season ticket sales to the company for £25million, some of which, it is also alleged, he used to fund his takeover of the Ibrox club in May 2011.

Rangers went into administration in February 2012 and the club was liquidated on June 14 of the same year.

The club’s business and assets were sold to a consortium fronted by Charles Green for £5.5million and the new club he created was told by the Scottish League to begin its existence in Scottish senior football’s lowest division.

Whyte currently faces a number of criminal charges relating to the acquisitions of Rangers in both 2011 and 2012 and appeared before the High Court in Edinburgh earlier this month.

The charges include allegations that Whyte and four other men conspired to obtain by fraud a controlling stake in Rangers and acted illegally in their dealings with Ticketus and another company.

The others charged were David Grier, 54, David Whitehouse, 50, and Paul Clark, 51, who work for the company that took on the administration of Rangers in 2012, Duff andPhelps, and lawyer Gary Withey, 51.

Green also appeared in court to face charges over the 2012 acquisition.

The criminal proceedings are due to return to court in December.