Ex-transport chief on car clone charge

Maclennan faces court rap in fraud probe

A former public transport boss has been charged by police following allegations he drove a cloned car.

Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT) CEO Gordon Maclennan was pictured in a Volkswagen Passat at his holiday home in August, while another vehicle the same registration number sat in his office car park.

An internal probe was launched after the Sunday Mail’s exclusive story on Maclennan and within days the 72-year-old retired from his £153,527-a-year job.

Police Scotland has confirmed he is facing multiple criminal charges. A spokesman said: “A 72- year- old man has been reported to the procurator fiscal in connection with fraudulent use of a registration mark and a road traffic offence.”

Vehicle cloning is an illegal practice in which a legitimate car’s registration is placed on one of a similar make and model. It can be used to avoid road tax, insurance and MOT costs.

Maclennan has been involved in a number of controversies at the SPT. He came under fire in 2016 after it emerged the public transport body had sold

man, 72, has been reported to the fiscal dozens of taxpayerowned buses at a fraction of the original cost. Minibuses bought for between £ 82,000 and £ 84,000 were later sold for as little as £450. The SPT had spent £7.5million buying up more than 90 buses to form its own fleet from companies including Allied Vehicles, where Maclennan had declared he was previously a board member. In 2015, SPT directors, including

Maclennan, were criticised over reports they had billed taxpayers for almost £50,000 in travel, hotel and entertainment costs that did not appear published expenses.

The organisation faced criticism in 2010 when an investigation identified “serious deficiencies” in the way taxpayers’ cash was spent on trips to 17 countries. Officials ran up expenses worth £117,573 – including £ 50,000 on overseas trips between 2006 and 2009.

Four directors quit in the wake of the scandal as documents relating to a corporate credit card revealed £32,000 unaccounted for.

In 2010, it also emerged that taxpayers footed a £ 6000 bill for staff at the transport quango to become members of prestigious Glasgow Golf Club for three years.

It has also emerged the SPT handed £1million of taxpayers’ cash to a train firm in a secret deal over a botched Subway contract.

A Crown Office spokesman said no court date has been set.