Ex-SNP MP in the dock over ‘£42k 5-year fraud’
A FORMER Nationalist MP has appeared in court charged with embezzling more than £41,500.
Prosecutors claim Natalie McGarry embezzled money while treasurer of Women for Independence.
She was also the treasurer, secretary and convener of the Glasgow regional association of the SNP at the time of the allegations.
The 36-year-old appeared in private at Glasgow Sheriff Court yesterday on three charges of embezzlement, two charges under the Scottish Independence Referendum Act and a charge contrary to the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act. Former Glasgow East MP McGarry made no plea when she appeared in court and was granted bail.
Papers from the court allege that between January 2012 and November 2015 McGarry, in her role as treasurer for Women for Independence, embezzled £33,011 and used cheques held in the name of the group to deposit money into her own account.
It is claimed that she transferred funds raised through fundraising events into her personal account, and failed to transfer charitable donations to the Perth and Kinross food bank and to Positive Prison Positive Futures.
The second embezzlement charge alleges that between January 2011 and May 2016 she embezzled £4,661.
Prosecutors claim that in the course of her role as treasurer, secretary and convener of the Glasgow regional association of the SNP, she used cheques in their name and money donated through the website, and intended for the use of that group, for her own use.
The third embezzlement charge, involving sums totalling £3,892, relates to a period between November 2012 and June 2014. McGarry allegedly transferred money into her own account that was raised through an online crowdfunding campaign which she set up to raise money for the ‘Yes Glasgow’ online campaign. She also faces a charge under the Scottish Independence Referendum Act that in December 2014 she submitted a return ‘purporting to be the true expenditure incurred by Women for Independence’.
It is claimed she falsely stated the total referendum campaign expenditure was £24,604, knowing that it was £10,346.
A second charge under the Act alleges that in December 2014 she delivered a return for referendum expenses that did not conform to the requirements.
It is claimed she falsely stated that, to the best of her knowledge and belief, it was complete and correct and the expenditure detailed had been paid by her or someone authorised by her.
McGarry faces a final charge of failing to provide a passcode for a mobile phone seized from her by police in August 2016. She is expected to return to court at a later date.
McGarry was elected as Nationalist MP for Glasgow East in May 2015. In November 2015, the MP resigned the party whip as police investigated concerns over the missing money. As a result she was automatically suspended from the party, and later sat as an independent MP in the House of Commons.
In June 2016, she posted pictures online of her signing a marriage register with her new husband, Glasgow Tory councillor David Meikle. She then turned up at Westminster in her wedding dress to have the marriage blessed, wearing it in the lobby as a vote was called so she could mingle with fellow politicians.
‘Allegedly put cash into own account’