A MYSTERY buyer snapped up more than three million shares in Rangers just hours after the club appointed a chief executive.

As reported in later editions of yesterday's Evening Times, former Manchester City director Graham Wallace was confirmed as Craig Mather's replacement.

The news came as it was revealed the Scottish Profess-ional Football League (SPFL) is considering pursuing the club for £250,000.

It has not yet been revealed who is involved in £1.3million worth of shares of the Ibrox club changing hands.

The single transaction is the largest since Rangers Inter-national Football Club was listed on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) last December. It represents 5.1% of the shareholding, and only Artemis, Hargreave Hale, Laxey Partners and Blue Pitch Holdings hold enough stock to sell that amount.

Wallace takes up the position at Ibrox immediately, although his involvement will be the subject of a shareholder vote at next month's annual general meeting.

The 52-year-old spent more than four years with the English Premiership giants.

Dumfries-born, he began his career at Ernst and Young and has held posts at IMG Media and the PGA European Tour.

He said: "While the last few years have been distressing, there is no reason why Rang-ers cannot be even stronger than we once were before these challenges presented themselves."

The £250,000, meanwhile, relates to a punishment imposed by an independent Scottish Premier League commission for the use of the Employee Benefit Trust scheme during Sir David Murray's reign, which found that payments to players through the fund were not disclosed to authorities.

At present, the fine lies with Rangers' old holding company, Rangers Football Club plc, which is being liquidated, with the league's claim joining the rest of the creditors from the oldco who will receive a pence-in-the-pound payout.

Now, SPFL lawyers are investigating the possibility of recovering the money under the Five Way Agreement, a deal between RFC plc, The Rangers Football Club Ltd, the SPL, the Scottish Football League and the Scottish Football Association.

The signing of the agree-ment granted Rangers membership of the SFA in 2012 before they began the new season in the Third Division.

By signing the agreement, Rangers gave the football authorities power to recover football-related debts from the new owners.

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