Post by QPR Report on Dec 11, 2009 7:56:18 GMT
Guardian/David Conn & Matt Scott
I bitterly regret Notts County sale says trust chief
• John Armstrong-Holmes felt 'hoodwinked' by Munto Finance
• Peter Trembling tries to mount management buyout
The former Notts County chairman who negotiated and recommended the handover of the club to Munto Finance in the summer yesterday said he feels he was "hoodwinked" into believing that Munto were backed by investors who would make huge money available.
John Armstrong-Holmes, who was also a director of the club's supporters trust, added that he now "bitterly regrets" handing the trust's majority shareholding to Munto for free and writing off the trust's loan to the club of £170,000, which was raised from fans' donations.
In a separate development, Notts County's executive chairman, Peter Trembling, told the Guardian that the money that was promised to the club had not been forthcoming quickly enough from Qadbak Investments, Munto's parent company.
He explained that the "several millions" needed to turn plans at Notts County into reality had not been released. He also, for the first time, hinted at the central role that the controversial businessman Russell King had played in the takeover of the club. "I've been told by Nathan Willett and Russell King however many times that x-many millions are going to be available," Trembling said, "and they haven't been forthcoming thus far." He added that King was no longer involved with the club and he had not spoken to him for between two and three months.
Trembling also cast doubt on the amount of money that exists in Qadbak, whose owners have never been revealed. "I'm convinced that the families mentioned as investors in Qadbak [the Hyat and Shafi families] do have wealth but I don't know how much they've made available to Qadbak," Trembling said.
Armstrong-Holmes is disillusioned about what has happened since the supporters trust effectively gave their shareholding to Munto. "I was told that Munto's backers, Qadbak Investments, were owned by hugely wealthy investors who would take Notts County to another level financially," he said.
"Instead, just a few months later, we have a club that has left several debts unpaid, with county court judgments and a winding up petition having been issued against it, and major questions still unanswered about Qadbak's ownership. Far from believing that the club is now on its way to climbing up the leagues and the bright future Qadbak promised, I am now dreadfully worried about what the future holds."
Armstrong-Holmes decided to speak out publicly following the news yesterday that Trembling, the club's executive chairman and original Munto representative, now claims to be pursuing his own management buy-out of the club from Munto. Trembling has recently cited "frustrations" with the lack of money being made available by Qadbak, the club's ultimate owners and backers of Munto.
Qadbak took over Notts County in July, describing themselves as "a Middle East-backed investment fund based in Switzerland" who would "invest in Notts County in a structured and staged way, to achieve their initial objective of making the club an established Championship side within four to five years."
Trembling subsequently said that very wealthy families based in the Middle East and Europe were financial backers of Qadbak, but they wished to remain unidentified. The season began with evidence of significant money being spent, after Eriksson was hired on a lavish contract and the former England defender Sol Campbell's arrived for a brief stint.
However, in recent months the club's parent company, Blenheim 1862, was issued with a winding up petition over unpaid tax owed to HM Revenue and Customs, and three judgments were made against it in Northampton and Manchester county courts for debts amounting to £8,576. The Guardian also understands that loans of more than £500,000, which Munto inherited when they took over the club, have not been repaid. Trembling explained he hoped to sit down with creditors and work out a payment plan. Armstrong-Holmes said yesterday: "We did our best to run the club with very limited resources available, we tried to lay good foundations for the future, and we never had bad debts or winding up petitions issued against the club in our time.
"I acted as I did in the best interests of the club because I believed, on the information we were shown, that Qadbak had the resources to take the club to another level. I now feel as if I was hoodwinked by Qadbak into agreeing to hand over the shares, because clearly that money has not been made available. And I bitterly regret, in hindsight, recommending the trust write off its loan, to which so many good, loyal Notts County supporters donated money."
Trembling suggested that Armstrong-Holmes had himself to blame in terms of the inquiries he made at the time of the deal: "John Armstrong-Holmes will have done his own due diligence. If that wasn't satisfactory he should have said so. He was satisfied with the paperwork he saw at the time."
In October, the Football League announced that it had been satisfied as to who owned Notts County, and that they had passed the "fit and proper persons" test. However, the Guardian revealed that Russell King, who is the subject of a fraud investigation in Jersey, remained involved with a company closely connected to Notts County, Swiss Commodity Holdings. The league has since sent a series of questions to Notts County to further clarify its ownership. Regarding the questions from the Football League, Trembling acknowledges all the questions have not been answered and he is now hoping to buy the club himself. "We are trying to raise funds for a management buy-out and are hoping that the situation will resolve itself within the next 24 hours."
www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/dec/11/notts-county-john-armstrong-holmes
I bitterly regret Notts County sale says trust chief
• John Armstrong-Holmes felt 'hoodwinked' by Munto Finance
• Peter Trembling tries to mount management buyout
The former Notts County chairman who negotiated and recommended the handover of the club to Munto Finance in the summer yesterday said he feels he was "hoodwinked" into believing that Munto were backed by investors who would make huge money available.
John Armstrong-Holmes, who was also a director of the club's supporters trust, added that he now "bitterly regrets" handing the trust's majority shareholding to Munto for free and writing off the trust's loan to the club of £170,000, which was raised from fans' donations.
In a separate development, Notts County's executive chairman, Peter Trembling, told the Guardian that the money that was promised to the club had not been forthcoming quickly enough from Qadbak Investments, Munto's parent company.
He explained that the "several millions" needed to turn plans at Notts County into reality had not been released. He also, for the first time, hinted at the central role that the controversial businessman Russell King had played in the takeover of the club. "I've been told by Nathan Willett and Russell King however many times that x-many millions are going to be available," Trembling said, "and they haven't been forthcoming thus far." He added that King was no longer involved with the club and he had not spoken to him for between two and three months.
Trembling also cast doubt on the amount of money that exists in Qadbak, whose owners have never been revealed. "I'm convinced that the families mentioned as investors in Qadbak [the Hyat and Shafi families] do have wealth but I don't know how much they've made available to Qadbak," Trembling said.
Armstrong-Holmes is disillusioned about what has happened since the supporters trust effectively gave their shareholding to Munto. "I was told that Munto's backers, Qadbak Investments, were owned by hugely wealthy investors who would take Notts County to another level financially," he said.
"Instead, just a few months later, we have a club that has left several debts unpaid, with county court judgments and a winding up petition having been issued against it, and major questions still unanswered about Qadbak's ownership. Far from believing that the club is now on its way to climbing up the leagues and the bright future Qadbak promised, I am now dreadfully worried about what the future holds."
Armstrong-Holmes decided to speak out publicly following the news yesterday that Trembling, the club's executive chairman and original Munto representative, now claims to be pursuing his own management buy-out of the club from Munto. Trembling has recently cited "frustrations" with the lack of money being made available by Qadbak, the club's ultimate owners and backers of Munto.
Qadbak took over Notts County in July, describing themselves as "a Middle East-backed investment fund based in Switzerland" who would "invest in Notts County in a structured and staged way, to achieve their initial objective of making the club an established Championship side within four to five years."
Trembling subsequently said that very wealthy families based in the Middle East and Europe were financial backers of Qadbak, but they wished to remain unidentified. The season began with evidence of significant money being spent, after Eriksson was hired on a lavish contract and the former England defender Sol Campbell's arrived for a brief stint.
However, in recent months the club's parent company, Blenheim 1862, was issued with a winding up petition over unpaid tax owed to HM Revenue and Customs, and three judgments were made against it in Northampton and Manchester county courts for debts amounting to £8,576. The Guardian also understands that loans of more than £500,000, which Munto inherited when they took over the club, have not been repaid. Trembling explained he hoped to sit down with creditors and work out a payment plan. Armstrong-Holmes said yesterday: "We did our best to run the club with very limited resources available, we tried to lay good foundations for the future, and we never had bad debts or winding up petitions issued against the club in our time.
"I acted as I did in the best interests of the club because I believed, on the information we were shown, that Qadbak had the resources to take the club to another level. I now feel as if I was hoodwinked by Qadbak into agreeing to hand over the shares, because clearly that money has not been made available. And I bitterly regret, in hindsight, recommending the trust write off its loan, to which so many good, loyal Notts County supporters donated money."
Trembling suggested that Armstrong-Holmes had himself to blame in terms of the inquiries he made at the time of the deal: "John Armstrong-Holmes will have done his own due diligence. If that wasn't satisfactory he should have said so. He was satisfied with the paperwork he saw at the time."
In October, the Football League announced that it had been satisfied as to who owned Notts County, and that they had passed the "fit and proper persons" test. However, the Guardian revealed that Russell King, who is the subject of a fraud investigation in Jersey, remained involved with a company closely connected to Notts County, Swiss Commodity Holdings. The league has since sent a series of questions to Notts County to further clarify its ownership. Regarding the questions from the Football League, Trembling acknowledges all the questions have not been answered and he is now hoping to buy the club himself. "We are trying to raise funds for a management buy-out and are hoping that the situation will resolve itself within the next 24 hours."
www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/dec/11/notts-county-john-armstrong-holmes