Northampton Town loan: Thirty suspects probed over missing £10m

The £10.25m loaned to Northampton Town was meant to redevelop the stadium

Case files on 30 suspects are being prepared by police investigating a missing loan of £10.25m made by Northampton Borough Council.

More than 550 witnesses and suspects have been interviewed in connection with the loan to Northampton Town FC.

A police spokesman said: "We are preparing evidence packages in respect of 30 individuals for the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS)."

The loan was made to rebuild the stadium and redevelop nearby land.

The work was not completed after contractors were not paid and pulled out.

As first reported by the Northampton Chronicle and Echo, the CPS says it will assess the strength of the evidence and the public interest before deciding if any prosecutions are appropriate.

"It is anticipated the Crown Prosecution Service will request that certain areas of evidence are further refined and clarified prior to making the final charging decisions," the spokesman added.

The borough council has spent more than £1m on legal fees trying to claw back the missing loan, the BBC revealed earlier this year.

• Northampton Town and the missing money

• Football stadium loan probe cost £1m

The council apologised following a report by PricewaterhouseCoopers in 2016, which said the loan was rushed through without sufficient checks.

The authority declined to comment further while the police investigation was under way.