Laurence Dollimore
FOOTBALL pundits Robbie Savage and Danny Murphy are suing the same bank used by Queen Elizabeth II over a failed investments into property on the Costa del Sol.
The ex-Premier League stars are understood to have lost a fortune after investing in controversial property-based tax avoidance schemes in the early 2000s.
The pair are part of a group of four former top players to bring legal action against Coutts and the Royal Bank of Scotland for allegedly giving them bad advice over the deal.
Former Leeds and Sheffield United striker Brian Deane and ex-Blackburn Rovers winger Jason Wilcox are the other players involved.
The four players invested in apartments in the Monte Resina development in the hills of Marbella for a total cost of £6 million, plus others in Charlotte Harbor, Florida.
Savage, Murphy, Deane and Wilcox each also bought a flat in the Spanish development.
Players said they were persuaded to invest because of a four-year mortgage guarantee. When the guarantee ran out in 2008, however, the Spanish property market was collapsing due to the financial crash, and the flats were only worth a fraction of their original value.
Several of the players who invested say they suffered a fall in value of more than 50%. One flat is now on the market for €350,000 (£250,000).
Coutts and RBS Gibraltar were the banks that provided loans for the investments, which were promoted by financial adviser Kingsbridge Asset Management directors David McKee and Kevin McMenamin.
The players are claiming damages, costs and interest, but an amount has not been set.
Coutts has denied the claims, saying: “Coutts acted as a reasonable and prudent bank in considering whether to lend to the claimants based on their circumstances and ability to repay the loans.”
The investments were made on the advice of McKee and McMenamin, who made more than £1 million in commission. Kingsbridge went into administration in 2010.
