By Bill Heaney
BBC Scotland is reporting that former Rangers chief executive Charles Green is to get £6.3m in compensation for being wrongfully prosecuted by the Crown Office.
Mr Green was one of several people arrested during a fraud probe relating to the sale of Rangers.
The case was abandoned and the 68-year-old was later told he had been subject to a “malicious” fraud prosecution.
A compensation bid has now been settled with Mr Green accepting £6.3m and his legal costs from the public purse.
The deal, which came moments before an eight-day case was due to start at the Court of Session, is one of several compensation payments agreed by the Crown Office relating to the bungled prosecution.
David Whitehouse and Paul Clark settled out of court.
Administrators David Whitehouse and Paul Clark settled out of court with the Crown Office in December in a package worth £24m.
A judge-led inquiry into the failings of the fraud probe over the sale of Rangers is to be held once all related legal proceedings have concluded.
A statement issued on behalf of Mr Green said he was “relieved” to settle his claim.
It added: “He looks forward to putting the last six years behind him and moving on with his life.”
‘Egregious wrong’
Mr Green’s lawyer, Garry Borland QC told judge Lord Tyre that his client could still claim more money from the Crown Office.
He told the court: “Mr Green was the victim of an egregious wrong at the hands of the prosecuting authorities.
“It will be for the public inquiry to examine how this malicious prosecution of Mr Green could possibly be allowed to happen.”
Mr Green was unveiled as the new man behind Rangers in 2012 but stepped down the following year.
In June, he and director Imran Ahmad both received an apology from James Wolffe QC, then head of Scotland’s prosecution service.
Mr Wolffe said: “Between 2015 and 2016, Mr Ahmad and Mr Green were prosecuted in the High Court concerning matters associated with Rangers Football Club.
“They should not have been prosecuted and, as Lord Advocate and head of the system for the prosecution of crime in Scotland, I have apologised unreservedly that they were.”