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A SUNDAY POST investigation team first revealed the true extent of the alleged financial mismanagement at the heart of Scotia Aid in August last year.
Our extensive probe detailed how the charity raised more than £1 million in 2014, but handed over just £137,000 to good causes, the equivalent of passed to the needy in Sierra Leone.
At the time, officials at OSCR refused to say whether it would probe the allegations.
That was despite the watchdog receiving official complaints dating back years.
Former Cardinal Keith O’Brien – an ex- patron of the charity – raised concerns about Scotia Aid as far back as 2011.
In April, when it emerged OSCR had started an investigation, former trustee Bobby Florence said: “It’s a joke it has taken OSCR this long to start investigating.
“It sent sheriff officers around to my house like a common criminal armed with a copy of The Sunday Post.
“All the facts set out in the story were exactly the same points I raised with OSCR years ago.
“OSCR did nothing then and only seem to have begun a probe after it appeared in the national press.”
Scotia Aid was founded in Ud d i n g s t o n , Lanarkshire, by chairman Dan Houston, 62,
in 2010. 13p in every £1 raised.
Two months later we revealed Scotia Aid was being investigated by a number of councils across the UK amid claims of a cash raising scam.
One of those, Broxtowe Borough Council in Nottinghamshire, raised civil court proceedings against the charity to recover £369,000.
EOur exclusive involved Dan Houston, left, CEO Alan Johnston, below left, and trustee Kieran Kelly, below right. It has now had its bank account frozen, its two trustees have been suspended from controlling the charity and an interdict has been granted preventing it from selling or leasing any of its property.
The Court of Session granted the measures and approved the appointment of an interim judicial factor to manage the charity’s affairs.
OSCR’s head of enforcement, Laura Anderson, said that action was necessary to protect the charity’s assets and reinforce public confidence.
However, Annie Wells, Scottish Conservative MSP, questioned why it had taken so long for OSCR to act.
She said: “The Sunday Post is to be congratulated for bringing this case to light but it is deeply worrying that it has taken so long for the matter to be raised.”
OSCR defended its handling of the probe.
A spokesman said: “We handle complex, sensitive and high-risk cases and these require detailed and careful consideration.
“This will naturally take time but allows us to ensure that we achieve the required result, as we have seen in this case.”
Scotia Aid was unavailable for comment.