Gordon Chisholm has claimed that Dundee pulled out of a deal to sign Queen of the South defender Bob Harris because it would risk alerting Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs that they had money.
The Dark Blues owe the taxman £420,000 and the debt to HMRC was the final financial straw that led to their going into administration.
Chisholm insisted the move for Harris in late August appeared to be ready to go through until an intervention from chief executive Harry MacLean.
“We were in the process of doing a deal with Queen of the South for Bob Harris,” said Chisholm. “I had actually spoken to Calum Melville on this one and he said, ‘Just do the deal.’
“This was in August before the transfer window closed. Because it was my old club Harry MacLean was doing all the negotiations.
“They were not far away, but he came into my office and said the deal was off. I asked why it was off and he said, ‘We can’t be seen to be spending money on players and paying a transfer fee when we’ve got to meet the taxman next month.’
“If Calum is here and he is seen to be buying players for money, the taxman will want his money in full.
“They knew the taxman was watching and that they had to be careful about what they were doing.
“Everyone was aware of the tax bill. Harry knew all about it absolutely no doubt about that.”