Ayr United chairman Lachlan Cameron has slammed League One rivals Dunfermline after they raided the Honest Men for top scorer Michael Moffat.
The prolific striker, who notched 27 goals last season as the Somerset Park outfit reached the play-off semi-finals, was this week lured to East End Park on more lucrative terms.
And that has infuriated Los Angeles-based Cameron, with the Fife outfit only exiting administration last December after racking up debts close to £10 million.
Cameron said: “We were all disappointed to lose Michael period, never mind to a competitor, but the fact is there was no way we would be able to compete with the financial package they put on the table for him.
“It baffles me how a team, that a year ago were on the brink of extinction with no assets and debts far outweighing any reasonable chance of getting out of, can offer such a rewarding package to a single player.
“There was no way, given our goal of playing within the financial fair play rules, that we would have been able to match it and still put together a supporting cast behind him.
“With the catalogue of teams that have gone into administration or out of the game in the last eight years, it disappoints me that there seems to be no real consequences for financial misbehaviour.
“If I had no moral compass, I would suggest that Ayr United should screw the creditors, tax payers and everyone else and end up debt free with a shiny bank balance.
“It may be viewed as a fault by some, but I am unwilling to play the game that way.”