Ex-Football Agent Denies Fraud...Plymouth Update

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BBC

7 March 2011

Former agent of footballer Stewart Downing denies fraud


Stewart Downing said he never read his contracts while Ian Elliot was in charge An England footballer has told a court that hundreds of thousands of pounds went missing from his bank account, allegedly siphoned off by his ex-agent.

Stewart Downing said he had trusted Ian Elliott to look after his finances after he signed his first contract with Middlesbrough when he was 20.

The 26-year-old, who is now with Aston Villa, said he checked the business account after the relationship soured.

Mr Elliott, of Foxhills Covert, Newcastle, denies four counts of fraud.

The 53-year-old is accused of taking the money to prop up his failing business projects.

York Crown Court was told that the relationship turned sour during the January 2007 transfer window, when the agent revealed on local radio that Tottenham Hotspur were interested in signing Mr Downing.

Mr Downing had not wanted that publicised as he had no desire to leave the North East club.

As a result he no longer trusted Mr Elliot and decided to check a bank account, trading as Stewart Downing Promotions Ltd.

The account, which should have had £600,000 to £700,000 in it, contained just £11,000.

Mr Downing told the court he never read his contracts while Elliott was in charge of his affairs.

He said: "I relied on him to do most things on the business side."

The trial, which is expected to last three weeks, continues.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-12670217

[Macmoish]

BBC

Plymouth Argyle lays off 16 and shuts shop

Sixteen staff have been made redundant at Plymouth Argyle and the club's shop has been closed in the city centre.

Buyers are being sought for the club which went into administration on Friday.

The League One club needs about £3m to meet its cash flow requirements between now and the end of the season.

Season ticket holders have been asked to donate £10 extra each time they see the club playing.

Peter Ridsdale, the former Leeds United and Cardiff City chairman, has been appointed executive director and chairman.

Administrator Brendan Guilfoyle, who is talking to potential buyers, said he "regretted" making the redundancies but the club's financial position required them.

He said: "We are talking about millions of pounds.

"We are looking for a keen purchaser who says 'yes I will pay the best price for the club and yes I will fund it in the meantime'."

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-devon-12673258

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GUARDIAN/Rob Bagchi

Stewart Downing reveals his far from extravagant lifestyle to court

• The Aston Villa midfielder's ex-agent on charges of fraud
• Downing claims £600,000 went missing from a bank account


Stewart Downing, the Aston Villa and England midfielder, was forced to disclose how he spends his income to York crown court on the second day of the trial of his former agent. Ian Elliott, whose former clients include Paul Gascoigne, represented Downing from 2001 until he was sacked in 2008. He has denied four counts of fraud. Downing was in the youth team at Middlesbrough when introduced to his agent by Chris Waddle. "I relied on him to do most things on the business side. I then discovered a lot of money missing," Downing told the jury.

The court was told how Elliott allegedly withdrew substantial sums from the Stewart Downing Promotions bank account to prop up his struggling businesses. The Villa midfielder said more than £2m had been paid into it while he was at the Riverside and detailed some of the spending he had authorised when cross-examined by Elliott's barrister.

If the defence counsel had intended the jury to be shocked by Downing's luxurious tastes, the list was a disappointment. Faustino Asprilla had spent a large amount of his salary when at Newcastle in amusement arcades and at the Metro Centre's Disney Store. William Gallas, more conventionally, paid £350,000 for a McLaren Mercedes. Manchester United's Nani has invested a proportion of his wages in a life-size marble statue of himself while Downing's Villa team-mate Stephen Ireland has a passion for aquariums, candy-coloured soft furnishings and car accessories. Downing, in contrast, has more modest tastes by modern Premier League bling standards. The £136,000 he got through may be eye-watering to most but was spent on the kind of home improvements that were more Sarah Beeny than Djibril Cissé.

His home cinema cost £45,000, an extension £30,000, a walk-in dressing room £6,000, a new bathroom £6,000 and a conservatory £45,000. He also made gifts to family members totalling about £180,000 and told the jury that even after this expenditure the account should still have had £600,000 to £700,000 in it. His accountants, however, discovered only £11,000 left in it. Downing, understood to have been paid a weekly salary of about £35,000 at Boro, said: "If you look at the money that had gone out, there should have been more than £11,000."

Robin Patton, defending Elliott, replied: "That's if you know what you are doing with your money."

Whether he did or not, the Pallister Park council estate boy could not be accused of sharing some of his colleagues' Louis XIV-style profligacy. You could hardly see Hello! or OK wetting their lips over a conservatory, however nice the cushions. The trial continues.

www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/mar/08/stewart-downing-lifestyle-court-agent

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Northern Echo

Agent accused of corruption by Boro boss

Wednesday 16th March 2011

* By Jim Entwistle » Reporter (Darlington)


MIDDLESBROUGH Football Club chairman Steve Gibson accused a former football agent of corruption during a heated court exchange.

Tempers flared in York Crown Court yesterday as Mr Gibson described how his relationship with Ian Elliott become so strained he stopped dealing with him.

The pair fell out over new contract negotiations for ex- Boro midfielder Stewart Downing – then represented by Mr Elliott.

He said Mr Elliott released stories to the media saying Mr Downing wanted to leave the Riverside in a bid to drive up the contract offer.

He revealed that Boro’s offer – of £30,000 a week, rising to £40,000 a week – was never put to Mr Downing.

Mr Gibson said he argued with Mr Elliott over the telephone and from then ties were severed.

“I was exceptionally angry,”

he said. “I decided at the end of that conversation that there was no point in trying to talk to him.”

Instead, a meeting was held between Mr Downing and his father, Mr Gibson and Keith Lamb, Boro’s chief executive.

“They were astounded at the figure put before them, and it was clear from the discussions that the information passed to the Downing family had been corrupted by Elliott.”

Mr Gibson said the standard payment to an agent was four or five per cent of the total contract value, which in Mr Downing’s case was £11m.

But after receiving “several abusive phone calls” from the “totally obstructive” Mr Elliott, he reconsidered that payment. “There was no way I was going to pay him that kind of money,” he added. “So I slimmed down that offer to a maximum of £50,000 per annum.”

He also revealed that the parents of Manchester City midfielder Adam Johnson, who Mr Elliott represented when at Middlesbrough, had also voiced concerns.

Mr Gibson said he spoke with Mr Johnson’s “distressed”

father outside Hillsborough in Sheffield, who complained they felt intimidated by Mr Elliott over what was perceived to be an “unfounded”

debt.

While giving evidence, Mr Gibson clashed with defence barrister Robin Patton.

Judge Michael Taylor, a self-confessed Middlesbrough fan, warned him to calm down.

Mr Patton, who had earlier questioned Mr Gibson about his non-domicile status, said to him: “Not used to people contradicting you, are you?”

Mr Elliott, 53, of Foxhills Covert, Whickham, Newcastle, denies four charges of fraud in connection with Mr Downing.

The case continues.

www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/sport/8911107.Agent_accused_of_corruption_by_Boro_boss/