Hooray, Alan Whiteley sees fraud charges against him dropped

" Ex-Cardiff City chief executive Alan Whiteley sees fraud charges against him dropped "
18 Feb 2014

A High Court judge has dropped a charge of conspiracy to defraud against Mr Whiteley, who resigned last year

A fraud charge against the former chief executive of Cardiff City FC has been dropped.

Mr Whiteley, of Bridgend, resigned in January last year after being charged with conspiracy to commit fraud in relation to the sale of four open-cast mining sites in South Wales.

The mine sites were Nant Helen, in Powys, and East Pit, Selar and Margam, all in Neath Port Talbot.

Along with Mr Whiteley, five fellow solicitors were charged with conspiracy to defraud Neath Port Talbot, Bridgend and Powys councils, as well as The Coal Authority, by “deliberately prejudicing their ability effectively to enforce obligations to restore cast mining sites to open countryside and/ or agricultural use”.

The other defendants were Eric Evans, of Abergavenny, Stephen Davies, and Frances Bodman, of Bridgend, as well as the former directors of Celtic Energy Richard Walters, 32, of Bridgend, and Leighton Humphreys, 38, of Cardiff.
All charges against the six defendants have been dropped.

Justice Gary Hickinbottom said at Cardiff Crown Court there had been no economic injury to the councils and The Coal Authority and even if dishonest dealings had been committed, they were not against the law.
“I have come to the firm conclusion that a jury could not properly convict the defendants and the charges cannot properly proceed.”
“These are matters for a different forum and a different day,” Justice Hickinbottom said.
Speaking after the judgment Mr Whiteley said the last three years had been an extremely difficult period and he would take stock before considering his next career move.
“It was a total shock and surprise when I was arrested,” he said.
“I will just enjoy this for the next couple of days before thinking about what I do next, but this is a big step in the right direction.
“I was always strong in my own mind that this transaction was totally legal and has been working commercially for the last three years.
“We did nothing wrong.
“This has been vindicated with the judge robustly dismissing the case in its entirety.
“There was always a concern that with the full might of the state as to what might happen if it went to trial with jury, so this judgment is a huge relief.”
A Serious Fraud Office (SFO) spokeswoman said they would continue to pursue the case.
The spokeswoman said: “We are studying the judgment carefully.
“As part of that process we are urgently considering whether to ask the High Court to permit the case to proceed.”

Great news for Alan

Always found him friendly,honest and straight talking.

Funny many said on here it was right for Tan to sack him or shall we say terminate his contract.

Great news for Alan

Always found him friendly,honest and straight talking.

Funny many said on here it was right for Tan to sack him or shall we say terminate his contract.

It is a step in the right direction for Alan Whitely, however the SFO are still looking to pursue it, so it may not be all over as yet. Cardiff City were correct in requesting him to step down, under the circumstances. Not only would it have brought even more negative publicity to the club, but it would be questionable whether Whitely would have had the time for Cardiff and build his defence.

Great news for Alan

Always found him friendly,honest and straight talking.

Funny many said on here it was right for Tan to sack him or shall we say terminate his contract.

It is a step in the right direction for Alan Whitely, however the SFO are still looking to pursue it, so it may not be all over as yet. Cardiff City were correct in requesting him to step down, under the circumstances. Not only would it have brought even more negative publicity to the club, but it would be questionable whether Whitely would have had the time for Cardiff and build his defence.

How were City correct? TG employed him knowing full well about this court case and everything was already out in the public domain when they gave Alan the CEO job a fact.

Tan got rid of Alan, because Alan was starting to question how our club was being run and Alan made it quite clear he thought the rebrand was not a good idea.

Great news for Alan

Always found him friendly,honest and straight talking.

Funny many said on here it was right for Tan to sack him or shall we say terminate his contract.

It is a step in the right direction for Alan Whitely, however the SFO are still looking to pursue it, so it may not be all over as yet. Cardiff City were correct in requesting him to step down, under the circumstances. Not only would it have brought even more negative publicity to the club, but it would be questionable whether Whitely would have had the time for Cardiff and build his defence.

How were City correct? TG employed him knowing full well about this court case and everything was already out in the public domain when they gave Alan the CEO job a fact.

Tan got rid of Alan, because Alan was starting to question how our club was being run and Alan made it quite clear he thought the rebrand was not a good idea.

Very true Annis, I have done a fair bit of work for Alan over the years and you are right he did tell tan the rebrand wasn't going to work, he is a nice chap and I hope no more comes of it

Great news for Alan

Always found him friendly,honest and straight talking.

Funny many said on here it was right for Tan to sack him or shall we say terminate his contract.

It is a step in the right direction for Alan Whitely, however the SFO are still looking to pursue it, so it may not be all over as yet. Cardiff City were correct in requesting him to step down, under the circumstances. Not only would it have brought even more negative publicity to the club, but it would be questionable whether Whitely would have had the time for Cardiff and build his defence.

How were City correct? TG employed him knowing full well about this court case and everything was already out in the public domain when they gave Alan the CEO job a fact.

Tan got rid of Alan, because Alan was starting to question how our club was being run and Alan made it quite clear he thought the rebrand was not a good idea.

Very true Annis, I have done a fair bit of work for Alan over the years and you are right he did tell tan the rebrand wasn't going to work, he is a nice chap and I hope no more comes of it

I wish we could have him Alan back instead of the Clown arse licker Lim.

Great news for Alan

Always found him friendly,honest and straight talking.

Funny many said on here it was right for Tan to sack him or shall we say terminate his contract.

It is a step in the right direction for Alan Whitely, however the SFO are still looking to pursue it, so it may not be all over as yet. Cardiff City were correct in requesting him to step down, under the circumstances. Not only would it have brought even more negative publicity to the club, but it would be questionable whether Whitely would have had the time for Cardiff and build his defence.

How were City correct? TG employed him knowing full well about this court case and everything was already out in the public domain when they gave Alan the CEO job a fact.

Tan got rid of Alan, because Alan was starting to question how our club was being run and Alan made it quite clear he thought the rebrand was not a good idea.

Very true Annis, I have done a fair bit of work for Alan over the years and you are right he did tell tan the rebrand wasn't going to work, he is a nice chap and I hope no more comes of it

I wish we could have him Alan back instead of the Clown arse licker Lim.

Totally agree

Great news for Alan

Always found him friendly,honest and straight talking.

Funny many said on here it was right for Tan to sack him or shall we say terminate his contract.

It is a step in the right direction for Alan Whitely, however the SFO are still looking to pursue it, so it may not be all over as yet. Cardiff City were correct in requesting him to step down, under the circumstances. Not only would it have brought even more negative publicity to the club, but it would be questionable whether Whitely would have had the time for Cardiff and build his defence.

How were City correct? TG employed him knowing full well about this court case and everything was already out in the public domain when they gave Alan the CEO job a fact.

Tan got rid of Alan, because Alan was starting to question how our club was being run and Alan made it quite clear he thought the rebrand was not a good idea.

Very true Annis, I have done a fair bit of work for Alan over the years and you are right he did tell tan the rebrand wasn't going to work, he is a nice chap and I hope no more comes of it

I wish we could have him Alan back instead of the Clown arse licker Lim.

Totally agree

Fully agree too. Whiteley was decent man who understood the fans unlike the muppets down there now.

Yes agreed. Alan was always very helpful and a true City fan.
He did not agree with the rebrand which did not go down well with Tan.

Never doubted Alan for a minute. It was a travesty that this case was ever brought and great to see justice prevail

Never doubted Alan for a minute. It was a travesty that this case was ever brought and great to see justice prevail

Did any other board members at the time support Whiteleys comments against the rebrand when Tan kicked him out Steve..?

Never doubted Alan for a minute. It was a travesty that this case was ever brought and great to see justice prevail

Did any other board members at the time support Whiteleys comments against the rebrand when Tan kicked him out Steve..?

He got the support of the whole board including tan adam.

Always liked Alan from when he used to work at Eversheds, good news

Never doubted Alan for a minute. It was a travesty that this case was ever brought and great to see justice prevail

I understood [from the WM report] that the SFO haven't yet definitely given up.
If so they obviously can see smoke from some fire somewhere.

Never doubted Alan for a minute. It was a travesty that this case was ever brought and great to see justice prevail

Did any other board members at the time support Whiteleys comments against the rebrand when Tan kicked him out Steve..?

He got the support of the whole board including tan adam.

He got the support from Tan AGAINST the rebrand..? Surely if that was the case then we wouldn't be playing in blue..?