According to media reports the Premier League has stepped in to the Saints proposed deal with Lander amid concerns over the Chinese about corruption.

It is claimed that the Premier League blocked the takeover of Saints by Lander Sports back in February due to allegations of bribery levelled at Lander Sports Development chief Gao Jisheng.

The Premier League board stepped in after after obtaining evidence that Gao Jisheng had twice been involved in corruption cases in China, one of which ended with a senior city politician being executed by lethal injection.

Media outlets include the Sun who have said that Gao was named in Chinese state media as one of a number of businessmen who gave bribes to Xu Maiyong, the vice-mayor of the city of Hangzhou known as “Xu three more” because of his lust for money, women — and more women.

According to reports in Chinese state media, investigators found a vault packed with gold ingots, jade and other precious stones, just some of the fruits from years of being on the take.

And among the businessmen named as having given Xu bungs was Gao, boss of the major Lander Holdings conglomerate. A probe ordered by the Premier League went even further, claiming official Chinese sources said Gao had given Xu £70,000 worth of gold, jewellery and watches in order to secure construction deals.

Both Xu and co defendant Jiang were executed by lethal injection by the Chinese state authorities on July 19, 2011.

Gao, it was said, had turned state witness in return for immunity from prosecution himself.

For good measure, it was alleged to the Premier League he had also admitted bribery in a separate case which ended in another man being jailed for 15 years.

Lander's lawyers and Saints are said to be meeting with the Premier League today to try and obtain permission for the deal to go ahead, although even if that is given there is still no guarantee that Katharina Liebherr will sell to Lander now or that a deal will be reached.

Lander are contesting that the facts that the Premier League have been given are not true and that therefore they should be allowed to proceed with negotiations with Saints.

This seems to be the truth behind the statement made to the Chinese stockmarket saying that Lander Sports will not proceed with the purchase but Lander Holdings will, however the Premier League still seem to be of the opinion that in essence they are one and the same and that Gao Jisheng will still be involved whichever company makes the purchase.

The Sun also claims that there are other offers on the table and that Lander are no longer the preferred bidder and that the club are likely to conclude negotiations with the new preferred bidder within a fortnight, although there is no indication of who the new bidder might be or what evidence the Sun has that the deal will be done and dusted before the end of the Premier League season ends.

Photo: Action Images

highfield49 added 10:49 - Apr 27 After HMRC visits to Newcastle and West Ham, amongst others, yesterday it appears that corruption within the game is somewhat the norm. Do we really have to get involved with these people? Surely there must be ethical investors out there? I realise that holding companies and subsidiaries can cloud the issue of ownership, and our current owner is no exception to this rule, but dealing with this sort of organisation makes me very uneasy.

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dirk_doone added 10:56 - Apr 27 Whoever she sells the Club to, it will be interesting to see whether Kat pockets all of the £200 million or allows some of it or, better still, all of it (unlikely, I know), to be invested in the Club.
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steve73 added 11:00 - Apr 27 Bit alarming that the Premier League had to step in. Means either the club knew and decided it didn't matter or they had no idea which smacks of indilligence. Neither scenario ideal.
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legod7 added 11:31 - Apr 27 This article in the Scum is a lot different to the one in the Daily Echo. According to the Echo the deal which is at an advanced stage will be with Lander Holdings, not Lander Sports.
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StRipper added 12:36 - Apr 27 It's not looking great for us, as Saints fans, whatever the club is trying to tell us. The worrying thing about the sale that Kat seems desperate to push through is that the purchase of Saints by Gao would be funded by 70% borrowing. That's hardly a good indicator of an owner with money to invest in Saints growth and feels to me that we are just going to end up in a Man Utd/Glazer situation, with all the debt subsequently being dumped back on the club to pay off. The only people to come out of the deal happy will be Kat with her cash and Gao with his ownership of us, funded by us and the club effectively. What a disaster we are being set up for

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SaintNick added 12:42 - Apr 27 Dirk, I would say that the Liebherrs have invested around £100 million into this club when you consider the £30 million to rescue us, the funding of player purchases in League 1 and the championship, various costs with Staplewood and the writing off of loans, if they had invested that money well over the past 9 years they would not be far off £200 million in the bank now, I wouldnt begrudge her pocketing it. Le God the Echo article is a bit behind, it was reported two weeks ago in other media outlets that Lander were taking over and would complete the deal, they dont appear to have much insider info here. St Ripper Kat is worth about £300 million at the mo, that isnt enough to take us forward much more, she knows that which is why she is looking for someone with the clout to do so,

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ItchenNorth added 13:16 - Apr 27 Theres no smoke without fire. Yet more evidence that we should be staying well clear of this Lander lot.
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SaintNick added 13:18 - Apr 27 Itchen I dont disagree they dont seem to be a very savoury bunch
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StRipper added 13:19 - Apr 27 Hey Nick, the principal of why to look for other investment is sound. But if it is true that Gao is funding his purchase with 70% borrowing (as much as I hate the Daily Nail, they often have these facts right) then he doesn't tick the box of having funds to invest. So saying the messaging that we are being given on the reason for the sale is one thing. The reality for us, once our current owner has extricate herself, is likely to be very different. We will be a Chinese owners plaything with the club lumbered with the debt, related interest and risk

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BoondockSaint added 14:01 - Apr 27 You know a company is really corrupt when even the FA are concerned!!! How did it come to this??? What happened to Saints three months of background checking?? As soon as this lot put in a bid, all the board had to do was Google them!!! Nobody in the office knows how to do this??? Here's hoping the "Mystery Bidder" is the type of owner we are all dreaming about!
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the_saint added 14:31 - Apr 27 Maybe mr Disney had a look at the Mickey Mouse lot down the road and then realised it was us he was suppose to be looking at
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