The £40million compensation paid to ex- Rangers directors over botched prosecution attempts was 40 times higher than England’s entire annual bill to settle similar cases.
Former justice secretary Kenny MacAskill has demanded an explanation for why Crown Office officials in Scotland agreed to pay the eye-watering taxpayer -funded sums after receiving comparable statistics from the Crown Prosecution Service in London.
Finance experts David Whitehouse and Paul Clark were wrongly arrested in 2014 and lawyers acting for the Crown Office later admitted the prosecutions, which related to the financial collapse and sale of Rangers, had been “malicious”.
Both launched a claim and were each paid £10.5million in damages by the Crown and millions more in legal expenses.
Former Rangers CEO Charles Green was also paid £6.3million plus costs after a claim.
Scottish Government accounts show the total bill stands at £39.9million and could rise further.
But figures obtained by MacAskill show the comparable bill for all malicious prosecution claims in England amounts to a tiny fraction of that.
Between 2015 and 2021 the CPS has paid out just £5.9million – or £983,000 a year on average.
MacAskill, Alba MP for East Lothian, said: “The sums paid by the Crown in the fallout from the Rangers liquidation debacle are extraordinary and eye-watering. No victim of crime would receive anything like those millions.
"Nor would a victim of an accident at work or even medical negligence that could be life-changing.
“The figures paid are also considerably greater than what’s paid out in England.
“It’s Scottish taxpayers’ money and citizens, never mind victims, are entitled to know how such incredible sums were calculated and agreed upon.”
A spokesperson for the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service said: “The damages paid in this case reflect the circumstances of the pursuers as high-earning individuals.
“COPFS is committed to further public accountability and a process of inquiry once all litigation has concluded.”
It emerged recently that about £400,000 had been spent by the Government on legal advice and “litigation support” in relation to the civil cases.
With other cases pending, it is feared the total cost to the taxpayer could top £100million.
An inquiry will be held and could be headed by a judge from outside Scotland.
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