Businessman Henry Mauriss who failed in Newcastle United takeover bid ‘in jail for fraud’

Henry Mauriss, 59, held talks with former Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley in May 2019 regarding a £330million proposal to buy the football club. Just over three years later, the American is serving time in jail for wire fraud, according to a report in The Athletic on Friday morning.

After the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund’s initial attempt to purchase Newcastle stalled, Mauriss emerged as a potential alternative with Ashley keen to sell the club he had bought back in 2007. Mauriss’ proposal was more than the £305million the club was eventually sold for to PIF back in October 2021, but a deal failed to materialise.

And it seems The Magpies have dodged a huge bullet as The Athletic have reported in-depth the extent of Mauriss’ history of fraudulent actions in a special report.

In April 2022, Mauriss had agreed to purchase Championship club Sheffield United for £115million but the deal didn't go through. Three months later, Mauriss would be in jail – he is not due for release until April 2024.

What Mauriss said about his failed attempt to buy Newcastle United

Speaking last year, Mauriss told The Athletic: “There was a lot to be frustrated over. At moments when we believed we were finally ready to close, a new obstacle would emerge to delay it.”

“Many of these obstacles were caused by the seller, including a third flirtation with Amanda Staveley and her Saudi friends. That caused a delay of many, many months.

“Along the way, a number of long stop dates were adopted and missed; movements caused by both parties.”

What was Henry Mauriss’ proposed takeover plan for Newcastle United?

Mauriss' proposal to buy Newcastle via his company ClearTV was ‘laced with risk’. The Athletic reported it included a draft document with MSD Partners for a loan which included interest rates of 7.5 per-cent per annum which would rise to 8.5 per-cent should the club be relegated to the Championship and default altogether in the event of a further relegation to League One.

There are claims that Mauriss also bizarrely wanted to appoint Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood onto the Newcastle board which would see the veteran musician receive £3.3million in shares and a £500,000 sign-on fee. But the 75-year-old would also be expected to play three to four gigs a season on matchdays at St James's Park.

There was no wrongdoing on Wood's behalf with his representatives claiming they quickly distanced themselves from the proposal at the time.

Mauriss got as far as holding talks with Ashley over the purchase of Newcastle and even offered £250,000 to enter an exclusivity period all while under a sustained investigation by the FBI.

Even if Ashley and Newcastle were to proceed with Mauriss’ proposal to buy the club, any serious due diligence would have been enough to stop a deal from happening as the American would have certainly failed the Premier League’s owners’ and directors’ test.