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.

Background: From multimillionaire businessman and ‘top of the league’ to bankruptcy

Calum Melville
Calum Melville

Once named one of Scotland’s richest men, Calum Melville appeared to have it all.

The oil and gas entrepreneur rose to prominence after taking over the family business – GTC Group – at the   age of 21.

As his empire grew, a huge home in Rubislaw Den  –  one of Aberdeen’s most exclusive addresses –  and a Bentley in the driveway were signs of his success.

GTC was turning over £27million and had grown to employ more than 250 people. By the time he sold his firm to Grimsby-based Cosalt in 2007, he and his family were estimated to have amassed a £100million fortune.

In 2009, he  joined the board of Scottish First Division side Dundee FC, and his rumoured £1.6million investment had propelled the Dens Park side to the top of the table. He resigned 18 months later.

His seemingly unstoppable success, along with  generous donations to  local charities, led to him being named Grampian Industrialist of the Year in February 2010, when he was 41.

However, by September 2010, Melville was suspended as Cosalt chairman of the Scottish operation as the firm mounted an investigation into “business practices” at the Aberdeen arm.

In 2013, police launched a criminal investigation into allegations  the firm was the victim of fraud. Mr Melville and other directors had been sued by the Cosalt over claims  equipment had not been delivered. The case settled out of court after the ex-Dundee FC director handed over a share of £2million.

After the civil settlement, Mr Melville said he was not admitting liability for an alleged multimillion-pound fraud and his lawyers said he was not the main subject of the investigation.

 

The Crown Office ordered the then Grampian Police to conduct a full investigation after the company handed over files for the civil case against the former millionaire.

And last night prosecutors confirmed there was insufficient evidence to pursue the matter.

Mr Melville moved his family to Dubai in 2014.

He later claimed to run OIM Entertainment, OIM Hotels Group, OIM Investment and OIM Fitness Group.

When speaking to the P&J, the father-of-three claimed the companies had purchased a hotel, owned a nightclub and employed more than 500 people. He also claimed involvement in a new office and residential tower in Dubai.

But last year he was declared bankrupt in the UK after failure to pay back hundreds of thousands of pounds to creditors.