It should come as no surprise that a vehicle has been created by the Rangers Supporters Trust for people to pledge funds to “Save the Club”.
We’ve been here before, with a initiative called “Gersave”, also created by and administered by the RST.
While the Rangers Supporters Assembly and Rangers Supporters Association have endorsed the site, and the principle of a fund to save the club, it’s most certainly an RST initiative.
The Domain name was registered by the Trust, the contact address for the site is the same as the Trust, and the website appears to have been created by the same person who is admin on the Trust site.
Gersave was an unmitigated disaster for the Trust. Despite this being heavily promoted, it raised a total sum for Rangers, of £50,000.
It is believed gersave revenue to the Trust totals at circa £150,000
Where is the £100,000 that people invested believing it was buying a stake in the club? Bear in mind this scheme started in 2007.
As the Trust has rounded on Rangers Chairman Craig Whyte with a number of accusations as to his honesty, it is noticeable that the RST accounts are no longer on the Trust Website. They used to be.
The original Gersave scheme is clearly in the process of being rebranded, under the more dynamic “Save Rangers” tag.
No Wonder.
The Previous scheme happened to be administered through a firm called Direct Sharedeal Ltd.
One of its Directors at the time of setting up the scheme was the then Chairman of the Rangers Supporters Trust, Malcolm McNiven.
I understand various board members of the Trust were asked by Rangers fans if Mr McNiven would personally benefit in any way from the scheme.
They were told in no uncertain terms no.
When details were requested, at least one of those asking the pertinent questions was banned from the Follow Follow forum, which has very close links to the Trust.
It is understood Mr McNiven did not benefit directly from the scheme, which is believed to have been run “for free” by the company. It is unclear if he benefited indirectly through the increase in custom and any related bonuses from the business.
McNiven and his partners later sold the firm to form his own company, Chryson Limited however Direct Sharedeal remained the broker for the Gersave scheme.
In its new guise, without McNiven, Direct Sharedeal were fined £101,500 by the FSA
“The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has fined Glasgow-based stock broking firm Direct Sharedeal Limited (DSL) £101,500 after its appointed representative, First Colonial Investments LLP (FCI), used misleading sales pitches which failed to set out the inherent risks of buying penny shares.
DSL specialises in spread betting and share dealing. It provided an avenue for FCI to carry out penny share sales, and should have made sure that FCI was providing customers with accurate and sufficient advice to make informed decisions about whether to invest in penny shares.
However, an FSA investigation found FCI’s sales showed scant regard for their customers. Potentially misleading sales pitches were used to persuade people to buy shares, regardless of whether those shares were suitable. FCI failed to mention the risks associated with their recommendations, and made misleading statements about the companies they were advising people to invest in.
FCI also placed its customers’ money at risk by holding it in a connected, but unregulated, firm. As a result, DSL was fined £101,500 for failing to monitor FCI’s customer treatment, along with that of other former appointed representatives.”
If any new scheme instigated by the RST/ Save Rangers is intending to utilise the services of Direct Sharedeal, I’d advise extreme caution.
Will they instead use Chryson, McNiven’s new company, and will he benefit in any way?
With RST Board Member Mark Dingwall himself previously at the centre of allegations about financial transactions between his website “followfollow”, and the Trust, it should ring alarm bells for anyone wishing to donate to “Save Rangers”
The financial management of the Trust is laid bare here with great care by former RST Secretary Alan Harris, who resigned from the board in disgust at it’s management.
Are the Trust really in any position to a) attack Craig Whyte for his movement of funds between business interests or non payment of bills, or b) manage third parties’ money?
The current scheme “Save Rangers” at saverangers.com is a Trust scheme. Even the contact email address on the website is rst@saverangers.com
I’m told that Senior Trust members are boasting today that the pledges to the site are sitting at upwards of £4M, while conveniently ignoring the claims on many Celtic forums that they are making meaningless high value pledges “furra laugh”
In the last week, since Rangers entered administration, the Trust has been all over the media recruiting members.
At £10 a time, without even the benefit of a Rangers share thrown in as used to be the case, what exactly will you get?
The kudos of being a Trust member? It certainly gets you little else.
If you wish to “save rangers”, then I suggest you contact Rangers’ Administrators directly, discuss any options and make a decision on what to do with your money.
Remember this before you part with your hard earned.
If the club is liquidated, and the funds are within the club, you could lose everything
If the “save rangers” fund is not regulated properly your money may not make it to the club”. Some who donated to Gersave may well be thinking the same thing.
“Save Rangers” is a good idea. No, it is, but it needs to be tangible, with real money donated, that can build up a real fund, with guarantees that all monies will be returned should the fund not be required, and it should be as clean as a whistle, with a respected and trustworthy Ranger at it’s helm
If you have any ideas, post them below