Former Bank of Scotland boss Gavin Masterton has defended a controversial multi-million pound loan deal he secured for Dunfermline Athletic from his old employer.
Mr Masterton’s East End Park Ltd was given a £12.2 million loan secured against the Fife club’s stadium which it owned at the height of the 2008 financial crisis and told it could skip repayments for the next 35 years.
The firm then went into administration and The Sunday Post last week revealed the taxpayer backed bank, part of Lloyds Banking Group, had recouped just £600,000 of the original loan in a deal with administrator KPMG which saw the stadium sold to a fans led group.
Mr Masterton said: “The arrangement with Bank of Scotland went through all the internal approval processes at the bank and very clear commercial terms were agree that would ensure a full return to the bank at the end of the loan period.
“Ultimately, it was the football club, not myself, that was the beneficiary of this arrangement as the loan took care of the debts that the club had amassed for many years prior to me taking on the stewardship role that came with being the major shareholder.”
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