RANGERS oldco liquidators say they do not believe a claim by a company previously linked to former club owner Craig Whyte for the whole of the £18 million creditors payout pot is initially valid.

And accountancy firm BDO, which is acting as joint liquidators of the oldco, says it has received a court agreement that gives lawyers of Law Financial Ltd until tomorrow to lodge answers in relation to the claim.

Legal advisers of LDL have given notice of the claims of up to £25 million with the company saying it holds a security over the assets of Rangers oldco RFC 2012 plc. It was first inherited by Mr Whyte after his Wavetower company paid off an £18m bank debt when he bought the club from Sir David Murray for £1 in May 2011.

The claim if successful, would make them the only secured creditor and first in line ahead of the taxman and ticket agency Ticketus and other unsecured debtors to take money from the pot.

BDO has now indicated to creditors that if the claim is pursued it could hold up payouts for some time.

An interim £10 million payout to unsecured creditors was due to have been made at the end of July to the tune of around seven pence.

BDO said in a notice to creditors: "Based on the information available at this stage, the joint liquidators do not consider that the claim is valid, however, we will review with our legal team any further information or documentation provided by LFL in support of its claim.

"The joint liquidators note that LFL has had nearly two years to submit a claim in the liquidation. It is not therefore clear why there continues to be a delay in providing further details. In the circumstances, the joint liquidators wish to bring this issue to a resolution as swiftly as possible.

"Unfortunately, as no formal claim has been submitted by LFL, the option of simply rejecting the claim is not available to the joint liquidators at this stage."

BDO said the claim has "not been adequately made out" in a letter received from LFL, and was not compliant with the provisions of the Scottish Insolvency Rules.

But they said legal advisors to LFL have recently informed them that full details of the claim will shortly be provided. BDO said they had previously undertaken to provide this information by August 4.

BDO has submitted an application to the Court of Session, asking the court to fix a short timescale for LFL to submit full details of its claim or lodge answers.

The liquidators say a first order has been granted by the court, under which LFL has until Friday to lodge answers.

"Such answers will include any representations that LFL wishes to make in respect of its claim, including any explanation or mitigating factors for the delay in providing full details of the claim to date," said BDO.

"If answers are lodged on or before September 4, the court will thereafter determine the timescales within which LFL is required to submit its formal claim or be excluded from the dividend."

If a claim is received the BDO will carry out an adjudication to accept or reject the claim. If it is rejected, LFL will have 14 days to lodge an appeal with the Court of Session.

BDO said: "Until this matter is resolved, given the potential priority of the LFL claim the joint liquidators regrettably have no option but to delay the payment of the interim dividend to unsecured creditors.

"The joint liquidators appreciate that this is an unfortunate development for unsecured creditors and would like to thank all creditors for their on-going patience in this matter."

BDO said that Law Financial claimed as a result of certain undisclosed agreements entered into on or around April 2013, that it "acquired" Craig Whyte's security.

LFL is now owned by the Worthington Group, an investment firm also once connected to Mr Whyte and who in October last year said would continue to stake a legal claim over Rangers business and assets.

Mr Whyte was a founding director of Law Financial, which claimed to have former Rangers newco Sevco 5088 as a subsidiary, until he was barred from being a company director in the UK for 15 years in October, last year.

Mr Whyte, who presided over the Rangers oldco's plunge into administration in February, 2012, has always insisted that the Wavetower company he used to buy the club and pay off its £18 million debt with Lloyds Banking Group – using future season ticket sales – inherited the bank's security over the Ibrox outfit's assets including Ibrox and Murray Park.

He also insisted he was the main driver behind the Sevco 5088 consortium fronted by former chief executive Charles Green that subsequently bought the liquidated assets of Rangers oldco for £5.5 million in June 2012 before being transferred to a different company called Sevco Scotland.

In April, 2013, Worthington revealed it had been granted an option to acquire the whole of Law Financial Ltd which included Sevco 5088, which it said held a claim "independently reviewed by leading counsel...to all of the business and assets of RFC 2012 plc which were purchased by Sevco 5088 Limited or Sevco Scotland Ltd from the administrators... in June of 2012".

If the option was exercised, the group was to pay a total price of £1m in unsecured convertible loan notes, while it would also give a third of the proceeds of any assets, claims or rights currently owned by Mr Whyte’s companies - including the legal action and the film and book rights to his story – to him.

Included among Law Financial's assets was the legal action instigated by Mr Whyte against Mr Green for his claim on Rangers' assets.

Mr Whyte has previously launched a legal action that raised questions about the current ownership of the club, alleging Sevco 5088 was the rightful owner of the club's assets.

Club auditors Deloitte has previously raised concerns over an "uncertain outcome" of Whyte's potential litigation which they said remained a key uncertainty hanging over the business.