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The FA are investigating over £1m of loans Mansfield Town FC have paid to it's Chairman, Keith Haslam.
Haslam, the only director of the club and a full time employee enjoying a salary of over £66,000 last year, has received over half a million in interest free loans personally, and his conpany Stags Ltd has received a similar amount intended to purchase land for an as yet unbuilt academy. Company law prevents companies loaning directors more than £5,000 with penalites including imprisonment.
Haslam assured fans in the summer of 2002 that the loans would be repaid and no more money would be borrowed, but the accounts for the following year showed over £250,000 of the loans had been written off, and the 2004 accounts showed a further £90,000 had been loaned without any sign of repayment in any of the published accounts.
The supporters trust, TEAM Mansfield, has instructed a solicitor to investigate action against Haslam with the solicitor involved acknowledging the loans are totally illegal. Whether Mansfield will regain their money or Haslam will face charges remains to be seen.
