Alleged fraud at castle: man tells of 2015 payment

GUTHRIE CASTLE: Man says wedding payments went into personal account

The alleged wedding deposits fraud at a Tayside castle may have started as long ago as the autumn of 2015, it has emerged.

Guthrie Castle former employee Craig Williamson is accused of double and even triple-booking some dates while asking couples to deposit large sums into his personal bank account. A police probe is under way. His whereabouts are unknown. A week after the crisis at the castle came to light, some couples were told whether functions they booked will be honoured.

A Dundee man was told yesterday afternoon his wedding next month will go ahead.

He said it had been established that all of the payments he made for the wedding, stretching back more than a year and a half, had gone into a personal Barclays bank account originating in Inverness rather than the castle’s business account.

“We had to jump through a lot of hoops. It was so stressful. We had to send them over all our paperwork and emails that we had exchanged with Craig. I’m just glad we’d kept everything,” he said.

“The amount of money involved could easily run into hundreds of thousands of pounds, as we paid all our money into a personal account. Our first payment was made all the way back to 2015.”

Another Dundee man, who has paid more than £10,000 into a personal bank account, said his date was also confirmed yesterday.

“All of the payments we have made since last summer have gone to the private account, but we are obviously delighted and grateful that the castle are taking responsibility and honouring our booking,” he said. The situation emerged late last week. Several couples have contacted The Courier with concerns that they still do not know whether their weddings will go ahead on the dates they had booked.

Two MSPs have called on the castle to reassure couples who made bookings.

For the third day Guthrie Castle declined to respond to a request for comment yesterday.

The Courier was told the castle does not intend to make a public statement and that affected couples were being spoken to directly.

It is understood a wedding held at the venue on Saturday was double booked with a conference.

Police Scotland yesterday said they were not in a position to give more details about their investigation.

A spokesperson said: “Inquiries are continuing”.

Guthrie Castle’s former employee Craig Williamson.