Rangers have just £1.2million left in bank but assets are still frozen

Ahman has twice lost similar motions but has won this one

He has also lodged a claim to the Court of Session for £500,000 in unpaid bonuses plus his legal expenses

Ex-Rangers commercial director Imran Ahmad goes to court for third time

Rangers edged closer to financial meltdown on Friday after former director Imran Ahmad succeeded in freezing £620,000 of the club’s cash.

In a hearing at the Court of Session in Edinburgh, Lord Stewart ruled in Ahmad’ s favour despite learning the stricken club have just £1.2million left in the bank and could soon be insolvent.

Rangers have vowed to appeal the verdict and will return to the court on Tuesday after a claim the club’s finances were the ‘envy of many English Premiership sides’ was rejected.

Money: Former Rangers commercial director Imran Ahmad has taken the club to court to try and freeze £620,000 of the Ibrox club's assets

Success needed: Rangers will hope the Glasgow giants can gain promotion from the Scottish Championship

Back on the brink: If the shares issues fails to reach at least £3m then Rangers' future could be uncertain again

A Rangers spokesman said: ‘Further to the Stock Exchange announcement regarding the court action taken by Imran Ahmad against Rangers, whatever the outcome of the court process, we agree with Judge Lord Stewart when he told the court: “This does not mean to say that insolvency is an actuality or is going to happen”.

‘We remain confident that the Club will be able to continue to operate as normal.’

But directors desperately need the forthcoming £4m ‘open’ share offer to be fully subscribed to enable them to pay player and staff wages, which fall due on the last Thursday of this month.

On top of that, they still owe £1.5m in loans to Sandy Easdale and George Letham, debts that were originally due to have been paid off by the end of August.

Lawyers for Ahmad argued he is owed a £500,000 bonus, plus £120,000 in legal costs, for the time he spent working at Rangers and went to court amid concerns the club will have no cash to pay him if he wins his claim in November.

Ahmad, who left the Ibrox side in April 2013, maintains he is entitled to five per cent of commercial contracts negotiated by him subject to written approval from the chief executive.

He previously contended that a letter from then chief executive Charles Green had confirmed that his bonus for 2013 would be ‘no less than £500,000’.

Friday was the third time the former Zeus Capital executive had tried to ring-fence the amount.

Disgraced: Craig Whyte put Rangers into administration in 2012 when he was in charge of the club

Despite expressing sympathy for an increasingly concerned Rangers support, Lord Stewart decided there was a ‘risk’ of the Glasgow side suffering an insolvency event and ordered that the money be set aside immediately.

‘I have a great deal of sympathy for Rangers fans who are bystanders in these events,’ said Lord Stewart. ‘I have formed the view that there is a risk of Rangers becoming insolvent.

‘That is not to say there is an actuality or a certainty that insolvency is something that will happen. At this stage, it is only a risk.’

The £4m share issue announced last Friday is designed to meet the club’s short-term needs and will cover the wage bill if investors respond.

But Rangers seem likely now to bring forward an EGM designed to seek permission for a larger scale share issue which could allow prospective investors Mike Ashley or Dave King to plough much-needed funds into the club.

Rangers advocate Alan Summers QC claimed on Friday that the club were in ‘advanced’ discussions with two unnamed prospective investors but failed to convince the judge Rangers’ finances were really improving.

He said: ‘When we were last here, we heard how the share issue would only keep the lights on at Ibrox. I can tell you that the floodlights are back on at Ibrox and are in no danger of being switched off.

‘The most turbulent financial period in history is now in the past and the club is moving upwards towards profitability.

‘Talks are at an advanced stage with two potential investors. The club has not been in rude health for some time but the situation is improving. The club is trading its way out of difficulties. It’s current position is the envy of many English Premiership clubs.

‘It is moving upwards through the leagues. The plan is for it to return into the Scottish Premiership and into the promised land of European competition where there is big money to be made through gate money, television rights and the like.’

Happier times: McCoist and Paul Gascoigne celebrate wining the Coca-Cola Cup in 1996

Rangers chief executive Graham Wallace also provided a statement to the court claiming the club was in good financial health and would continue to grow.

But Ahmad’s legal representative told the court that there was no proof the forthcoming share issue or the season ticket sales could keep the club solvent and that there was no guarantee that investors would come forward to save the side.

Advocate Kenny McBrearty QC added: ‘A pattern of diminishing working capital is evident. There is no concrete saviour for Rangers.’

Lord Stewart fixed a hearing at the Court of Session for Rangers to appeal on Tuesday and on Friday night a Rangers statement read: ‘The Company confirms that the Court of Session in Edinburgh has granted a request by Mr Ahmad for an order allowing him to arrest £620,000 in a Rangers bank account or the accounts of others who may be due to pay sums to Rangers.

‘He sought this order in connection with a claim against the Rangers Football Club Limited for alleged unpaid bonuses in the amount of £500,000. The court granted permission to arrest £620,000 to take account of the sum sued for and Mr Ahmad’s legal expenses in connection with his claim.

‘Leave to appeal this decision has been sought by Rangers and the court will deal with that request on Tuesday.

‘This is a provisional procedural measure and the fact that this procedural ruling is in Mr Ahmad’s favour it is in not an indication that the court accepts there is any merit in his claim. The court has not yet considered the merits of Mr Ahmad’s claim. Mr Ahmad’s claim is being robustly defended.

‘The case proceeds to a full hearing on its merits commencing 11 November 2014. If the defence of this claim is successful the funds arrested will be released.’

Concern: Ally McCoist is worried about the club's perilous finances and the prospect of administration

Rangers precarious financial position was brought in to sharp focus last week when the embattled club issued a statement to the Stock Exchange saying it had to find an injection of funding or ‘the company will be unable to pay its creditors as they fall due and the future of the company will be uncertain.’

The statement added: ‘The directors will immediately have to seek emergency financing which may or may not be available.’

There then followed revelations that that name rights for Ibrox Stadium had been sold to Newcastle owner Ashley for £1 in a deal with Charles Green last year.

And, in a newspaper interview this week, Rangers director Sandy Easdale alluded to the increasingly fraught financial situation at the club.