‘Black f ish’ scandal captain pays £3m to land luxury mansion
AFTER being forced to pay back nearly £200,000 as well as a hefty fine, Peter Tait should be facing an uncertain financial future.
But the trawler skipper who was at the centre of a major ‘black fish’ scandal has found enough cash to spend more than £3million on a magnificent mansion.
Despite the financial penalties, the skipper has landed the most expensive house sold in Scotland this year – a three storey granite mansion in one of Aberdeen’s most exclusive streets.
It comes only two years after he was fined £40,000 and ordered to pay back £191,075 when he and three family members admitted bringing ashore illegal catches worth more than £6.5million in a £63million scandal that rocked the fishing industry.
The four men – Andrew, William Robert and Peter Tait – were fined and subject to confiscation orders totalling £721,562 in November 2012.
They were caught falsely declaring catches landed at Peterhead and Lerwick Harbour between 2002 and 2005 in an illegal operation to evade the annual EU fishing quota allocated to their vessels so they could make more money.
However, despite the fine, Mr Tait and his wife Kerry have just set the record for the most money paid for a residential property in Scotland this year.
The couple paid £3,070,000 for the B-listed Edwardian property in the city’s prestigious west end area of Rubislaw Den South.
The previous record for most expensive house sale in 2014 was held by a property in Haddington, East Lothian, which sold f or £3million. Registers of Scotland yesterday confirmed the sale, which is currently undergoing registration.
According to the land register, Mr and Mrs Tait bought the house from Vivienne Harper, who is registered at the address.
It is expected to be officially confirmed as 2014’s most expensive property sale next week.
The six-bedroom house sold for three times the current average price for properties in the street.
The sale includes access to Rubislaw Den – a 14 acre communal park only accessible to owners of properties on the street. A number of offers were reportedly made for the property before it was purchased by the skipper.
Mr Tait is a director in the Fraserburgh based Klondyke Fishing Company and a member of one of the most famous fishing families in Scotland. As a result of Operation Trawler, a total of 31 skippers and three firms were fined just under £1.8million and ordered to forfeit more than £8million under Proceeds of Crime legislation.
The family, who operate three herring and mackerel trawlers, were the best-paid fishing crew in Britain last year and generated revenues of £20million, sharing £17million in dividends.
The 11 directors of the company are also paid a salary and last year the best-paid crew members would have earned more than £2million.
Published details of fishing quota allocations in the UK showed the Tait family is one of the biggest holders of fishing rights.
Mr Tate currently lives at a gated five bedroom three-storey property in Aberdeen’s King’s Gate.