The decision to prosecute seven individuals associated with the Rangers takeover in 2012 has so far cost taxpayers at least £51 million and led to zero convictions.
Only one individual has ever faced trial and was subsequently cleared.
Scotland's top law officer was later forced to apologise to parliament while opposition parties claimed the whole episode had left a "permanent stain" on the legal system.
Labour MSP Pauline McNeill said: "This case has been a complete disaster for the Scottish Government. The costs continue to rise and all the while the damage done to the integrity of our justice system continues."
It emerged that although the cost will not have to come out of the budget of the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS), it will still be paid for by the Scottish Government and, by extension, taxpayers.
John Logue, interim Crown agent at the Crown Office, revealed the soaring cost when he was grilled at a Holyrood committee yesterday.
Here is a timeline of how events unfolded:
Why was a police investigation launched?
The seven men who were prosecuted were involved in either the administration or subsequent takeover of Rangers in 2012. Police Scotland launched a massive investigation into what they described as the "alleged fraudulent acquisition" of the football club. Officers spent 12 months investigating multiple allegations of fraud before launching a series of arrests at dawn in November 2014. Further arrests followed a year later.
Who faced prosecution?
Craig Whyte took control of Rangers from Sir David Murray in May 2011. The club went into administration in February the following year. He was arrested in 2015 by Police Scotland as part of a wider investigation into the takeover.
David Whitehouse and Paul Clark were appointed administrators when the company that ran the Ibrox club went into administration. The duo had been brought in to oversee the books as Rangers underwent a period of financial crisis. They left Ibrox in October 2012 and were arrested two years later.
Insolvency expert David Grier, who worked alongside Whitehouse and Clark at Rangers in 2012, was arrested in 2014.
Gary Withey, a lawyer who advised Craig Whyte during his takeover of Rangers, was arrested in 2014.
Businessman Charles Green became chief executive of Rangers in the summer of 2012 and stood down in April the following year. He was arrested in 2015.
Imran Ahmad, a finance expert, was appointed Rangers commercial director at the same time as Green. He had left by April 2013. He was arrested in 2015.
Who ordered the prosecutions?
Frank Mulholland was serving as Lord Advocate - Scotland's top law officer - when in 2015 he sanctioned prosecutions related to the Rangers takeover. His term as Lord Advocate ended in 2016 and he is now a leading high court judge. He was awarded a CBE in 2017.
James Wolfe was appointed Lord Advocate in 2016 and would later be forced to apologise in parliament for the Crown Office's handling of the prosecutions.
In February 2021, Mulholland issued a statement via his solicitor to hit out at "false and scandalous" attacks made on him by opposition MSPs. One Tory member alleged that Mulholland had "went out of his way to see to it that two innocent men were hounded by the state".
Mulholland's statement said "he has found it frustrating to have his professional reputation maligned, but has until now remained silent due to his judicial role."
He supported calls for a full public inquiry into the prosecutions.
When were the prosecutions dropped?
All charges against Withey, Clark, Whitehouse, Grier, Ahmad and Green were dropped in 2016. Craig Whyte was the only one of the seven whose case proceeded to trial. He was cleared following a seven-week trial in 2017.
Five of them would later sue the Crown Office and Police Scotland.
In 2019, the Court of Session paved the way for pay-outs to be made after it ruled the office of Lord Advocate does not have immunity from claims of malicious prosecution.
In August 2020, a lawyer representing the Lord Advocate admitted the prosecution against David Whitehouse and Paul Clark, beyond their initial court appearance, was "malicious" and conducted without "probable cause"
How much compensation was given?
It was announced by the Crown Office in February 2021 that Whitehouse and Clark were both awarded £10.5 million in damages, with an additional £3 million to pay legal fees. In a separate legal claim in 2020, both men reached a financial settlement out of court with Police Scotland over their wrongful arrest. The amount paid by police has not been disclosed.
Charles Green settled his legal claim in August 2021 against the Crown Office for £6.3 million plus legal costs.
David Grier lost his £8.7 million malicious prosecution claim against police and prosecutors in January. He launched an appeal against the decision in September at the Court of Session. Grier also made a complaint to Police Scotland's professional standards division which is yet to be resolved.
Attempts to mediate in a multi-million pound action over wrongful prosecution brought by Imran Ahmad failed to reach a conclusion in September.
How much will taxpayers pay in total?
It's not yet possible to say as litigation continues. It was reported in July that Whyte was preparing to sue both the Crown Office and Police Scotland for wrongful arrest.
Has anyone apologised?
James Wolfe, the then Lord Advocate, took the unprecedented step of making an apology in the Scottish Parliament in February 2021 for the botched prosecutions of Whitehouse and Clark. He said: "In this particular case there was a very serious failure in the system of prosecution.
"It did not live up to the standards I expect, which the public and this parliament are entitled to expect, and which the Crown Office expects of itself."
