Hamilton Accies target of '˜elaborate fraud'

Hamilton Academical has today announced the football club was the target of an '˜elaborate' financial fraud which has resulted in it losing '˜a substantial sum of monies'.

New Douglas Park in Hamilton. Picture: Jeff J Mitchell

The side, based at New Douglas Park in North Lanarkshire, is now cooperating with Police Scotland and its bank to ‘to pursue the individuals responsible’, it said in a statement published on Friday afternoon.

It said: “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.”

Neil Doncaster, chief executive of the SPFL, said: “Hamilton Academical have informed us that they have been the victim of a sophisticated financial fraud and that Police Scotland are carrying out an investigation.

“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.”