A judge has ordered the payment processing company connected to the collapse of Scottish carrier Flyglobespan to prove it has £35m in the next two days.

E-Clear has been ordered to prove that it has the money – which it allegedly held back from the failed airline, causing its collapse last month – by this Friday (January 15).

More than 4,500 people were left stranded when the airline’s owners Globespan collapsed just before Christmas.

The collapse of Scotland’s only airline also led to 550 redundancies.

Administrators PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) has been asking a judge to put E-Clear into administration in a bid to release the funds.

It claims E-Clear had been stalling £35m in payments owed to Flyglobespan from credit card payments.

PwC estimates potential claims of around £15m, rather than £35m, and that the remaining £20m relates to flights that have already taken place.

At the High Court yesterday (Tuesday 12 January), Mr Justice Floyd warned E-Clear it should not dispose of assets before the case resumes next Tuesday.

Bruce Cartwright, joint administrator of Globespan and head of business recovery services at PwC in Scotland, said:

“We are satisfied that the judge recognised our concerns and has put in place a process that will clarify the E-clear position in a very short time.”

Last week it was revealed that the business interests of E-Clear’s owner Greek travel industry entrepreneur Elias Elia were further called into question after news he is now facing a separate legal claim from Canadian operator Go Travel Direct.

The claim for C$500,000 (£300,000) follows just a fortnight after the collapse of Globespan, according to the Guardian.