From yesterday's Derby Telegraph...
Skint, homeless and claiming jobseeker's allowance 
A DISGRACED Derby County boss who frittered away £1 million in six years is
now homeless, with just one bag of clothes — and is claiming £65 a week
jobseeker's allowance. 
Former Rams' director of football Murdo Mackay, convicted of conspiring to
defraud the club, has had his home repossessed. And he has not seen his
wife for a year, after she fled to Spain with their children.
Mackay, 54, has been living on hand-outs from his brother since he was
released from prison in February.
He said: "I've lost everything." 
The Scottish businessman started working for Derby County in 2002 under
ex-chairman Lionel Pickering, when he was asked to help oust the club's
manager, John Gregory.
He then helped broker a £15 million takeover of the club in October 2003.
But his fall from grace was completed last year when he and ex-finance
director Andrew Mackenzie were convicted of conspiring to defraud the Rams of
£375,000, plus VAT. 
The money was taken in "secret commissions" to hide it from the fans.
A hearing is being held at Northampton Crown Court to determine what cash,
if any, can be claimed back.
Howard Godfrey QC, for Mackay, quizzed him yesterday about the state of his
finances.
He said: "Since you left prison in February, you told us you lived with
your brother. Do you pay him anything for your board and keep?"
Mackay said: "I do not, your Honour. He has supported me completely."
Mr Godfrey asked: "Do you have a job?"
Mackay replied: "Presently, not."
Mr Godfrey asked: "Have you an application through the job centre for
jobseeker's allowance?"
Mackay said he had and that he was claiming "about £65 a week", his only
income.
Godfrey asked: "Do you have a car?"
Mackay said he did not. 
"Aside from the clothes you stand up in, do you have any other realisable
assets?" asked Mr Godfrey.
Mackay said: "I do not." 
Richard Sutton QC, prosecuting, said Mackay had spent more than £1 million
in the course of six years, from 2002 to 2008 — an average of about
£170,000 every 12 months.
"That's correct," replied Mackay.
Mr Sutton said: "You are telling the court you do not have a penny of that
left, not a penny to show for it?"
Mackay said: "I do not have one penny."
When pressed as to where the cash had gone, Mackay said it had been spent
on looking after his family and paying for the education of his children.
He said that, if he had any money, he would not have allowed his family
home in Fife, Scotland, to be repossessed.
But Mr Sutton challenged him: "I suggest that you had a lot of money going
through your hands and it has not all disappeared in reality, even if it
has disappeared from the eyes of those looking for it."
Mackay said that, if that was the case, he would not be in the UK "with one
bag of clothes, living with my brother, on £65 per week".
The prosecution is seeking to confiscate the assets of Mackay, Mackenzie
and ex-Rams chief executive Jeremy Keith — convicted of false accounting —
to pay back the money taken from the club.
At yesterday's hearing, Mackenzie, 56, of Littleover, also gave evidence
about his finances. 
He said the value of his holiday home in Florida, bought with his portion
of the club's cash, had fallen dramatically in value.
Mackenzie and his wife bought the property in 2004 for $471,900. It is now
worth $287,569.
He is driving around in an old Mercedes worth about £1,000, he said.
Keith, 45, who gave evidence earlier, lives in a £1.3 million house in
Oxfordshire and has been doing consultancy work since he was released from jail
in December. 
Confiscation proceedings are also being held in regard to solicitor David
Lowe, of Monaco, who was convicted of money laundering after he helped
transfer some of the Rams' cash.
The court has heard his assets have been valued at more than £1 million.
A decision is expected in the coming weeks on whether or not the trio will
have to pay back money to Derby County. 
[Post edited 1 Jan 1970 1:00]
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