VILE MADAM MONEYBAGS WINS LEGAL AID FIGHT
Convicted brothel keeper owes £780K but she’s been awarded public cash to fund her appeal
A BROTHEL boss has been awarded public cash to fund a court appeal – despite owing £780,000 in crime profits.
Margaret Paterson – dubbed Madam Moneybags – was jailed for five years for running a bordello and escort business.
The 65-year-old is attempting to overturn her conviction and has been handed legal aid to continue her court fight, despite the bid being thrown out twice before.
A legal source said the bill for taxpayers could reach up to £30,000. A spokesman for the
Sleaze queen Paterson in appeal bid funded by taxpayers’ cash
Scottish Legal Aid Board said: “A legal aid application can only be granted if someone meets financial tests set by the Scottish Parliament and their lawyer shows there are strong legal arguments to back up their case. “They may also have to contribute to the cost of their case.” The pensioner enjoyed a lavish lifestyle bankrolled by her sleazy empire, splashing out nearly £500,000 on designer goods. Paterson, of Edinburgh – whose lust for exclusive handbags earned her the nickname – wants the Scottish Criminal Case Review Commission to back her. The SCCRC – a body who examine cases for possible miscarriages of justice – have previously refused to refer hers for appeal judges to consider. She is seeking a judicial review of that decision in the hope of clearing her name. The case was considered at the Court in Session in January, with judge Lord Boyd agreeing an eight-week delay in proceedings to allow her legal aid application. Paterson’s lawyers will have to submit accounts for their work to the Scottish Legal Aid Board, whose staff will assess the claims.
Judges at the Court of Criminal Appeal rejected an earlier appeal bid in 2014.
Paterson was also slapped with a court order in 2015 to stump up £1million under proceeds of crime laws.
Three years later, most of the huge sum remains outstanding.
Earlier this year, the Crown confirmed they were applying for an administrator to be appointed to sell off her assets and claw back an outstanding sum of £780,440.
Paterson lived the high life on her profits from the brothel in the city’s posh Grosvenor Street.
The vice girls considered well-spoken Paterson as the boss with her former lover, Robert Munro, her second-in-command.
She was known to give her hookers advice on domination for clients who wanted to be submissive.
Police discovered Paterson and Munro were in charge of prostitutes in Edinburgh, the Lothians, Glasgow and Aberdeen. Sixty-five vice girls worked from the New Town basement flat for nine years.
They were sent out to meet clients at their homes and hotel rooms, while men visited the address for “in-calls” to choose an escort and pay for sex.
The racket came crashing down after a police raid in September 2011.
Stunned detectives spent two days searching Paterson’s home, also in Grosvenor Street, to sift through piles of clothes and handbags, many unused and in original wrapping.
Cash totalling £204,660 was found kept in bags and a safe.
Jewellery including a £4320 Versace watch and two rings worth £1400 each were discovered, still in their boxes.
Paterson was jailed in July 2013, with Munro also handed a fiveyear term.
A court previously heard Paterson’s assets included a property portfolio in Edinburgh and bank accounts.
Paterson was unavailable for comment.