Taxpayers have now paid out £51m over the Crown Office’s “malicious” prosecutions relating to Rangers.
The sum was confirmed in evidence to a Holyrood committee this morning.
David Whitehouse and Paul Clark, who were the administrators for the Ibrox club during their financial troubles, were wrongly arrested in 2014.
The Crown Office later accepted that the prosecutions, which related to the financial collapse and sale of Rangers, had been “malicious”.
Whitehouse and Clark pursued compensation and each was paid £10.5m in damages as well as having their legal costs met.
One-time Rangers CEO Charles Green also received over £6m and the Crown Office accounts last year said the bill had reached £39.9m.
John Logue, Interim Crown Agent at the Crown Office, was asked for an update by Tory MSP Russell Findlay.
He said: “The costs have increased to just under £51m pounds."
Findlay also asked about media reports that the bill was over £60m.
Logue replied: “I'm advising you on what the cost is. How the media choose to portray things I'm afraid I have no control over.
"There's always a degree of speculation about such matters, and I recognise that, but I am afraid the general position remains as it was explained to you before by the Lord Advocate.
"You'll understand there is still ongoing litigation, and therefore that limits what I'm afraid I can say."
He added: “The costs associated with litigation will not be met from the fiscal service budget.”
Calls have been issued for a public inquiry into the scandal.
A Scottish Government spokesman said: “The settlement of these cases will not be met from the COPFS resource allocation.
“The overall budget is managed across the Scottish Government and, as happens every year, any overall funding changes required to support expenditure are confirmed as part of budget revisions.’“
A spokesperson for the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service said:
“We appreciate that these costs are particularly regrettable given the current pressure on public finances.
“Throughout these cases we have sought to protect the public purse from avoidable costs.
“The Crown is committed to public scrutiny of these cases and more information will be made available in due course.
“Since the prosecutions which gave rise to these civil actions, the Crown has taken significant steps to safeguard against similar situations arising again.
“New arrangements for managing complex cases have been implemented and are now well established.”
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