THE Indian tycoon bidding to takeover Blackburn Rovers insists ‘we will prove the doubters wrong when we buy the club’ as he strongly denied reports his firm has been forced to close down.

BBC Radio Five Live Investigates claimed on Monday night Ahsan Ali Syed had been ordered to fold his Bahrain-based firm Western Gulf Advisory (WGA) for ‘violating the laws and regulations of the country’.

Mr Ali Syed though hit back at the accusations, claiming ‘we are still operating’ and insisting the reason their Bahrain offices were shut was due to relocation issues.

The 36-year-old businessman admitted the Bahrain authorities have started an investigation into his firm, asking for ‘natural’ clarification on their investment activities, but he remained confident of completing the due diligence process at Rovers before long.

Spokesperson Julia Thiem said: “We know all the time the process is going on there will be rumours.

"So the best way to stop that and prove to people we are capable of taking control is by completing the purchase. Hopefully that will silence people.

“We can’t do anything about these rumours. These rumours will only stop once we prove we are a good owner and that we have the sufficient funds.

"People are always suspicious and we accept that but will prove them wrong.

“With Blackburn Rovers, there has been great interest from media all over the world and the Bahrain authorities have approached us and asked for clarification about our investments and what is coming from European entities and what has been purchased from Bahrain.

“It is fair enough the authorities are seeking clarification because there have been so many stories about us. We have no problems with that.

“Mr Ali Syed is not unduly worried about the stories. There is always a negative story about you when you become popular.

"He finds it funny in one way because first of all people were doubting whether he had enough funds and now they have admitted we have the funds but they doubt they belong to us.

“Of course we are confident we will pass the Premier League’s fit and proper test.

"It will be harder because we will be the first owners who have to pass the new regulations but we can prove our amount of funding.

"I am sure all of this will lengthen the process as well but it is not a problem.”

Mr Ali Syed’s attempt to purchase Rovers had already been thrown into doubt over the weekend amid reports of two more potential bidders and Monday night’s claims have led to further uncertainty.

But, on whether the Bahrain-based firm had been closed at ‘minutes’ notice’ as claimed by the BBC, Ms Thiem denied the allegations and insisted the firm was still operating.

She said: “It is true the offices are closed because we locked them ourselves. We were not shut down.

"We locked them because we are due to move new offices, this has already been reported in the Gulf Daily News.

“But the offices are not ready yet and, as it is Ramadhan at the moment, it is hard to rush anything.

"So Mr Syed has decided to give people a few days off until the end of Eid and hopefully on September 14 we will start running operations from the office.

"However, the core team are still working from a different location.

“The Bahrain authorities came here a week ago and I am here speaking to you, and there are other people working here.

"We are still open. We are still operating so it is not true.”

Mr Ali Syed was quick to emphasise the WGA firm under investigation was a ‘separate entity’ from the Swiss-based WGA AG that has been recently set up for the investment in Rovers and other firms.

Allegations that WGA was acting on behalf of a hidden investor were also denied by Ali Syed, who said: “There is no hidden investor or any outside wealth involved in any way in the investment activities of Western Gulf Advisory (‘WGA’).

"All our investments are based on our own financial resources and strength, and I am the sole shareholder of the company.”

Ms Thiem explained all of Mr Syed’s companies were ‘separate entities’, and the only link they had was being owned by the businessman.

She pointed out that Mr Ali’s Bahrain-based stables was called Western Gulf Stables.

She said she believed Bahrain authorities had wanted to clarify the differences between Western Gulf Advisory and Western Gulf Advisory AG.

She said: “His wealth comes from his inheritance. His family has 150 years of history in private companies.

"Mr Ali has liquidity and fixed assets.

“He would consider himself as being privileged. There is no doubt you can call him a billionaire, but he doesn’t call himself that.

"He is not your typical billionaire. He actually comes and talks to his staff.”

Blackburn Rovers declined to comment on the reports, with 5 live ready to report their full findings on their Sunday evening show, while Bahrain’s minister of Industry and commerce was unavailable for comment.