Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Police investigation underway as Hamilton Academical say they have been victim of an ‘elaborate fraud’

Hamilton chairman Les Gray (SNS Group /Ross Parker)
Hamilton chairman Les Gray (SNS Group /Ross Parker)

POLICE are investigating an ‘elaborate fraud’ that has targeted Hamilton Academical FC.

The Scottish Premiership club say they’ve lost a ‘substantial’ amount of money as a result.

Police Scotland and the club’s bank are looking into the situation, with Accies Directors injecting funds into the club to ensure it stays fully operational.

Chairman Les Gray said in a statement: “At this point it is imperative that we remain calm and work together as we go through one of the most difficult situations we have faced as a club.

“In the interim, the Directors intend to inject funds to meet the club’s ongoing obligations until the investigation is complete to ensure continuity.

“It is our intention to host a media briefing to go into more detail when the initial legal and banking investigations reveal the facts. This will allow us to give full disclosure of the event.

“No further comment will be made at this time as the Police investigation continues.”

SPFL chief executive Neil Doncaster said: “This is clearly a very serious and unfortunate situation and everyone in the game will hope it can be resolved quickly.

“We will be monitoring the situation closely and working in conjunction with Hamilton academical in the days and weeks ahead.”

SFA chief Stewart Regan tweeted: “Shocked to hear this news from . Sincerely hope the investigation delivers a positive outcome for the club.”

The SPFL warned clubs to guard against online fraud in August after Annanfailed to receive an £18,000 payment from the league at the end of last season.

The funds had instead been paid into a fraudulent account and police launched an investigation after the money was retrieved.

Hamilton have the lowest budget of any club in Scotland’s top flight and their average home attendance is about 2,500.