Derby County’s owner Mel Morris has received loans from a company linked to Henry Gabay, the businessman who was detained in France last week and faces German extradition charges in connection to an unrelated tax scandal, The Athletic can reveal.
Up until now, it was believed Gabay had only held talks with Morris about investing in Derby but The Athletic has uncovered that his involvement goes far beyond talks with the Derby owner. The Swiss-Turkish financier has already lent Morris the £81.1 million he used to buy the club’s stadium in 2018.
That purchase is already controversial as it has resulted in an English Football League disciplinary charge related to Derby allegedly overstating the value of Pride Park in an attempt to avoid a breach of the league’s profitability and sustainability rules.
Derby were the first side to spot the loophole in the rules that allowed clubs to sell their stadiums to their owners and then lease it back,...