Sports Direct from 2012 to 2015. Details of Rangers' legal claim was revealed on 12 August after Ashley's lawyers succeeded in a bid to have the documents disclosed. According to the papers lodged with the Court of Session, Rangers sought approximately £4.1m in damages caused by alleged negligence by Green and other club staff from which Ashley unfairly benefited. Rangers regained representation at a domestic football level as managing director Stewart Robertson was appointed to the SFA board, although he had initially signalled his intent to stand for the SPFL board but withdrew due to a lack of support. Meanwhile, the former Rangers owner Craig Whyte was the only person facing fraud charges relating to the liquidation of The Rangers Football Club Plc proceedings begun in June. In a bizarre twist, former Rangers vice-chairman Donald Findlay was appointed to Whyte's legal team and defended Whyte when he faced charges relating to the acquisition of the club in May 2011 and its subsequent financial mismanagement. On 22 December, at his pre-trial Whyte entered a not-guilty plea at the High Court in Glasgow. The trial concerning accusations of fraudulent acquisition of the club began in April 2017, with former Rangers managers Walter Smith and Ally McCoist called to give evidence about the financial situation at the club preceding Whyte's reign. The corporate aftermath of Whyte's reign was continued and it was revealed that club administrators had raised legal action against Police Scotland and the Lord Advocate while creditors would receive £2m less in potential payouts after the liquidation costs increased, leaving the total payout at £16.663m. Although RIFC did settle a fine imposed upon the club by the Nimmo Smith commission after a tribunal held against the club in October 2015, the total cost was £286,000. At the start of February, it was reported that liquidators of the old company, BDO, had launched a legal action against former administrators Duff & Phelps over the business strategies adopted by the administrating team and seeking up to £28.9m in damages. The spectre of Mike Ashley continued to haunt Rangers in the early part of the season. He lost a legal challenge to the SFA's fine over breaching dual ownership rules with reports he faced a £250,000 legal bill. In October, he was ordered to pay half of the SFA's legal costs and an additional fee for the costs incurred from receiving specialist legal advice.