FORMER Celtic and Rangers stars are among a group of ex-football stars who claim they lost TENS OF MILLIONS of pounds through financial advisers.
The heroes are among 200 footballers to have lost money in a scheme that attracted a massive £417million worth of property investments from hundreds of sports stars.
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Ex-Celtic striker Tommy Johnson and former Rangers forward Rod Wallace are among the footballers who are part of a campaign group called V11.
The players all invested into a firm called Kingsbridge Asset Management during the 1990s and 2000s.
Former England superstars Rio Ferdinand and Wayne Rooney also lost money in the scheme having bought homes in Florida through Kingsbridge.
Another ex-England international, and current Match of the Day pundit, Danny Murphy claims to have lost “four – maybe five – million.”
Many of the players have taken part in a BBC documentary called “Football‘s Financial Shame: The Story of the V11.”
It tells the story of how the footie stars made their investments – and subsequently lost everything.
While they all lost money, many also lost their homes and facing bankruptcy.
The footballers hoped the investments would secure their long-term futures.
The two founders of Kingsbridge, Kevin McMenamin and David McKee, have denied any wrongdoing.
Established in 1992, the firm went on to cultivate trust with several top football stars – with its two key figures becoming trusted friends of many.
Former Celtic Johnson explained: “People will turn around and say they were just financial advisers. They weren’t, they were friends.”
Kingsbridge even received a major credibility boost from respected manager Howard Wilkinson, who was the chairman of the League Managers Association at the time and who publicly endorsed the company.
The Kingsbridge website would boast 360 footballer clients.
Kingsbridge advised clients to invest in film financing schemes – following a 1997 Treasury tax relief on investments on domestic films.
It also encouraged them to invest in property ventures that offered a 40 per-cent tax rebate deferred for a 15-year period.
The players were told the were the ‘victims of crime‘ by the City of London Police.
But instead, they now find themselves being chased for millions by the tax man.
HMRC came calling for the tax owed from the aforementioned film schemes and by that time, many investments had diminshed.
That left the players unable to cover the bills.
Kingsbridge chiefs McKee and McMenamin said in a statement to the BBC: “Film schemes attracted huge support from all areas of the financial services industry.
“Any losses suffered by clients… are deeply regrettable but were as a consequence of changes in HMRC policy and the worldwide property market collapse in 2008.
“Kingsbridge had well over 2,000 clients, many of whom received very similar advice.
“The huge majority of these clients remain satisfied with the way that Kingsbridge handled their affairs.”
Politician Andy Burnham referred the situation to the City of London Police in 2018 and an investigation was opened.
Two years later, it was closed due to insufficient evidence for conviction.
No charges have ever been brought against Kingsbridge staff.
Former Rangers striker Rod Wallace has gone from having a net worth of just shy of £2m to being declared bankrupt in February last year.
He invested £2m in the film sector alone.
He explained: “We live in Surrey.
“It’s been a good place to live but we have to move on now because of an eviction notice, nothing in the bank.
“We won’t have anywhere to live.”
It’s estimated that the average tax bill for each member of the V11 group is more than £1m.
In a statement to the BBC, HMRC said: “We have a duty to collect tax when it is legally due.
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“We recognise that dealing with an enquiry and a large tax liability can be stressful and we are absolutely committed to identifying and supporting customers who need extra help.”
The V11 group aims to pursue legal reform in order to protect crime victims from severe tax penalties.
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