Sampson gears up to defend TalentNation liquidation order, but wins Ronaldo app task and works as vice chair of Colin Montgomery charity
Sampson gears up to defend TalentNation liquidation order, but winsThe move by Scottish Enterprise to put TalentNation, a social media platform in which it has a £1m stake, into provisional liquidation is to be resisted by its founder Steve Sampson in the Court of Session, Scotland’s Supreme Court.
In June the regeneration body successfully petitioned the Sheriff Court for a provisional liquidation honour, citing concerns about the way the business’s finances were being managed.
The move was made as several former staff prepared to sue TalentNation for unpaid salaries and fees. They included former Olympic athlete, Brian Whittle, who claimed in court papers that £500,000 was transferred out of the business into an the personal account of Steve Sampson and his wife Elisabeth, shortly after Scottish Enterprise made their investment.
Said Whittle in the closed record of the case which was due to go before Hamilton Sheriff Court: “Within a few days of Scottish Enterprise making the investment of £1m, £500,000.00 was transferred from the TalentNation bank account to the Joint account of Mr Sampson and his Wife.”
This was strenuously denied by Sampson, who texted Gordon Young, editor of The Drum shortly after the story appeared online: “You will be served with a writ for £500k for gross defamation. Nice round sum. This is now going viral as well. Mistake my friend.”
No writ was forthcoming.
According to Sampson’s LinkedIn profile (which lists diplomacy as one of his specialties) he now, “heads up a portfolio of digital assets in online and mobile with connections in the UK and US which include Cristiano Ronaldo. He is vice chairman of Ryder Cup Captain Colin Montgomerie's cancer charity, currently working to raise £3m for a cancer ward near Glasgow.”
The profile goes on to say that his relationship with Ronaldo will see him creating a mobile app. However, it contains no mention of TalentNation.
A spokesperson from Scottish Enterprise said: "We are continuing to pursue this Court action with our legal advisors. It would be inappropriate for us to comment any further at this stage.”
A representative for administrator Grant Thornton told The Drum that the case would go ahead at the Court of Session on 16 September.
At the time of writing, Sampson had not responded to The Drum’s request for a comment.
Updated:
A spokesperon for Colin Montgomery's charities has contacted The Drum to deny that Mr Samson is involved with his cancer charity.
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Comments
I find it stunning that with a bit of money and a little influence cads like this seem to be able to give our judicial system the run around! This has been reported in the Drum for what seems like an age - surely this man's ego cannot be allowed to get away with this? And what about the staff and creditors who have had to bear the financial brunt of Sampson's lack of morals - I bet no one has given them a thought. Absolutley scandelous!
Well done to the Drum for not allowing Sampson's bully boy tactics to make them dodge this story. After all this is a public interest story with £1million of our money seemingly going missing!
Am I the only one who is wondering where the money came from to build businesses in the UK and USA when TalentNation debts remain unpaid? Extraordinary set of circumstances must have been presented to have Scottish Enterprise set liquidation proceedings in motion. This needs properly aired in court. However, I have a feeling that Mr Sampson will not relish the true facts being placed in the public domain.
A Ronaldo Mobile app...I've just been a little bit sick in my mouth.
I wonder if Mr Sampson's 'friends' down south and in the USA know about his TalentNation antics? Perhaps that's why he is so keen (threats and inuendo a plenty!)to keep as lid on it! Hopefully Scottish Enterprise will do their public duty and get the answers the public demands.
This will be the same 'connection' with Ronaldo that saw the football star publicly disown the app that Sampson created last year? There are no connections. His close associations with 'stars' were such that Colin Montgomerie apparently didn't want to get involved with Talent Nation. I personally can't believe they all want to get involved with such a dodgy second-hand car salesman.
To clear the matter up and offer clarity why don't you ask him to provide a copy of a bank statement for that period, if he is innocent and did not transfer the funds he could easily silence a few people, if he refuses then draw your own conclusions!!!
Bit of pot and kettle with Brian Whittle, surprising these two did not hit it off, i'm sure he will not have paid off all the bumped suppliers from previous enterprises!!!
Many businesses have fallen victim to the bad economic climate. The question is how have they behaved during the process? When the truth comes out (and it will) we will find out that Sampson has not only taken £500k of SE investement out of the TalentNation bank acount and directly into his own account, but that he also borrowed money from staff and resisted paying it back, continued to pay himself and his wife all through the time that he wasn't paying staff, continued to take investment from footballers knowing that TN was trading insolvent and wrote tens of thousands of pounds worth of cheques to cash without appropriate receipts. He continues to trade under another name paying new suppliers and staff. He threatens and tries to bully anyone who has the temerity to stand up to him. He claims that he owns the Scottish media and he will use them against anyone who disagrees with him. Frankly given the press' reaction to his carryings on I am beginning to believe him. He continues to use lies and inuendo to muddy the waters. My concern is that he is using the judicial system to his own ends - delaying and delaying until he has his other businesses sorted. It is rumoured that he has transferred his business interests to the USA and will move out there as soon as he can - after all his house is for sale and he is done in this country. He may well get away with it and leave a trail of destruction behind him. It is not right - but as has been said, a bit of money and influence can buy some kind of immunity. I say well done to the staff for standing up to him. He may yet get what he deserves. What is for certain - he has made up stories, threatened enough people and thrown lies and inuendo about enough to ensure the truth must come out.
I really hope this guy gets what's due to him. His wife never worked at TalentNation so if as the last comment suggests she was getting paid then that alone is incredulous and every penny should be paid back. Look forward to seeing what comes out from the Scottish Enterprise court case.
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