The future of former Rangers owner Craig Whyte’s Highland castle retreat was up in the air yesterday following speculation he could be set to sell it to pay off alleged mortgage arrears.
The 42-year-old is currently embroiled in court action over alleged arrears believed to total thousands of pounds on the historic Castle Grant, outside Grantown.
Mr Whyte and his wife Kim are being pursued through the courts by the Bank of Scotland and were due to be represented at a hearing at Inverness Sheriff Court last month.
But the civil case was postponed until April.
Yesterday, it was reported that lawyers had agreed that Mr Whyte should actively try to sell the castle to hold the bank off from repossession.
When asked if the 15th-century property was being put up for sale his estranged wife, Kim, is reported to have said: “I believe it is”.
But conflicting information emerged from a source close to Mr Whyte who denied that the castle would be put on the market.
The source claimed: “Craig has no plans to sell it.”
Mr Whyte bought the castle in 2006 but in court papers now lists his Monaco address as his official home.
Mrs Whyte moved out of the castle three years ago and was living locally, but has since sold her house and moved to Harrogate, Yorkshire.
The Bank of Scotland has been pursuing the couple for months for the debt. But Mr Whyte has been delaying settlement, claiming the bank was being unreasonable raising the action.
At a previous hearing, solicitor Mary Nimmo, acting for the bank’s lawyers, said it wanted submissions on legal authority relating to Mr Whyte’s defence that the Bank of Scotland is not the heritable creditor.
Although no clear details have been given about Mr Whyte’s defence, it centred on Halifax providing him with the original loan to buy the castle for a sum believed to be £720,000.
Halifax is now part of the Bank of Scotland.