Breaking news tonight.
Seems a bit messy.
The FA have launched an investigation into director Rupinder Bains after Mail Sport revealed she worked for a Cayman Island-based firm involved in a failed takeover of Crystal Palace without their knowledge.
A consortium came close to buying the club in 2020 in an £185million deal brokered by the former prime minister of Malta, our investigation can expose.
FA board member Bains worked on the deal as a private lawyer, but did not disclose her involvement to English football’s governing body.
A spokesman on Monday night claimed the FA had no knowledge of the episode and were ‘deeply concerned’ before confirming they were investigating the circumstances of Bains’s involvement.
A consultancy used by prospective buyer Benjamin Leigh Hunt was given access to Palace’s accounts and senior directors, including chairman Steve Parish, in order to prepare a bid for the club, leaked documents reveal.
The businessman, whose crypto-currency firm, the London Football Exchange, was subject to a freezing order later in 2020 over suspected investment fraud, was working alongside Dr Wasay Bhatti, a Pakistani national. LFE folded shortly after the freezing order was made.
Dr Bhatti had involved former Malta PM Joseph Muscat in the deal and discussions had taken place about junior Maltese footballers gaining experience at the south London club should the takeover be successful.
Promises had also been made that there would be a partnership between the club and LFE if the deal went ahead. LFE boss at the time Jim Aylward, who was jailed for 22 months in 2010 for fraud and had previously served time for robbery and assault, is named as Leigh Hunt’s co-defendant in the freezing injunction against LFE at the High Court in 2020.
Due diligence was carried out on the club in August 2019 and the report, which has been leaked to Mail Sport, reveals the firm had access to information on key Palace personnel, including co-owner Parish.
Bains was brought into the deal in November 2019 in her capacity as managing director of law firm Pinder Reaux and was paid directly by Dr Bhatti to carry out further due diligence.
A source close to the deal said she may have been hired because of her position on the FA’s board, adding: ‘It would have given the deal an added layer of authenticity.’
There is no suggestion that Bains herself would have known about this possible purpose.
Emails seen by Mail Sport reveal Bains communicated directly with Parish about gaining further access to the club’s data in February 2020. Bains confirmed she had worked alongside Leigh Hunt, but did not think she had been obliged to disclose this.
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