The bonfires have been relit under the Freedom Of Information hordes and you can bet your last penny there will be a title stripping petition set up over Dermot Desmonds alleged tax avoidance in the Paradise Papers scandal.
Mr. Desmond says he is innocent and it appears to be so.
One thing about the Paradise Papers is that they show how rich people LEGALLY avoid paying tax, so as to expose these loopholes, not to show people who have broken any existing laws.
Ask the Queen, she has 14million in offshore accounts whereby she legally avoids tax or the Tories for that matter, they said this behaviour was perfectly normal in Parliament after all.
On that basis, I can’t see anything Mr. Desmond has done wrong, but what if he had done something wrong, what then?
If he is found to have defrauded the tax office then his position as a major shareholder may be brought into review.
The media may not ask for Mr. King to be diligent or law-abiding but Celtic will not be left idle by the SMSM.
If he did leave I don’t see the issue for us, I believe there are 3 options for buying out his shares.
- He would announce he would sell his shares and fans would invest in buying him out.
- Other large investors in Celtic would divide up his share between them.
- Someone with big money would seize the opportunity and buy his share in total.
If it is the first one I will put some money in myself, I missed the earlier share issues either having been too young or too broke.
If it is the second option then it is likely Lindsell Train, a London Investment firm would snap up plenty, they have shares in Juventus and the WWE and hold 15.04% of Celtic at the moment.
Indeed Lindsell Train could have a majority if they bought out Desmonds 39%.
The third option is the interesting one, imagine a billionaire who wasn’t looking to make his money back?
I know, I know I sound like one of Them, but the opportunity to own Celtic at this point of our history would alert some very rich men to the possibility of having a very special toy.
One you could bash the Shame with, go deeper in Europe and maintain and add to our squad all the time winning titles and cups on the march to 10 in a row.
Such an owner would be loved by the Celtic support like a kid loves Santa Claus.
But Mr. Desmond says he is innocent, so let’s leave Santa with the fairytales the media is going to bathe in for the foreseeable future.
