Daniel Defoe The Spy – The Inspiration For the Agents of The British American Project (BAP)

 

 

The British American Project

Founded in 1985 by Reagan and Thatcher and Rupert Murdoch (to perpetuate the close relationship between the United States and Britain) the British-American Project for the Successor Generation (BAP) has a membership of “1200 leaders and opinion formers”, drawn equally from both countries.

The project is sponsored by several well-known businesses including Monsanto, Philip Morris (tobacco), Apple, British Airways, BP Coca-Cola, Unilever.

It holds an annual conference to which journalists are not invited and at which everything said is, officially at least, not to be repeated to outsiders. It rarely features in the mainstream media – instead, it makes tantalisingly vague and fleeting appearances in those corners of the internet where conspiracy aficionados gather.

In real terms it is a “Trojan horse” for American foreign policy, primarily recruiting Britons of liberal or left-of-centre inclinations and political talent and connections when they are young, indoctrinating them with propaganda about the virtues of American capitalism and America’s role in the world, and then watching them approvingly as they steer British politics in an ever more pro-Washington direction.

 

 

In the summer of 1997, a few weeks after New Labour won power, a striking article about the election appeared in a privately circulated newsletter. Under the cryptic headline Big Swing To BAP, the article began, “No less than four British-American Project fellows and one advisory board member have been appointed to ministerial posts in the new Labour government.”

The under-noted list provides a sample of the extent of the odious presence in British politics of persons whose loyalty is firmly placed with the US. In addition to politicians, the BBC and press are extensively represented.

Labour Party: Edward Miliband, David Miliband, Douglas Alexander, Wendy Alexander, Baron Mandelson, Baron Robertson of Port Ellen, Baroness Symons, Jonathan Powell, Baroness Scotland, Geoff Mulgan, Sadiq Khan, Matthew Taylor.

Conservatives: David Willetts, Stephen Dorrell, Alan Sked (founder of Ukip), Rishi Saha.

Journalists: Isabel Hilton, the Independent, the Guardian; Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, The Independent, London Evening Standard; Charles Moore, Daily Telegraph, Sunday Telegraph, The Spectator; Rowan Pelling, Daily Telegraph, Daniel Franklin Executive Editor of the Economist, Martin Vander Weyer, Business editor of the Spectator and Gideon Rachman, The Spectator, Chief Foreign Affairs Columnist .     and many, many more.

BBC: Jeremy Paxman,  Evan Davis, James Naughtie, William Crawley, Jane Hill, Ben Hammersley, Trevor Phillips, Margaret Hill, Laura Kuenssberg

http://www.britishamericanproject.org/

http://powerbase.info/index.php/British_American_Project

 

This document provides evidence confirming the extent of the political power wielded by members of the British American Project (BAP). Note the high profile of Laura Kuenssberg who has been selected for high office within the project. (Shades of  1707 and Daniel Defoe). No friend of Scotland methinks

 

 

 

Conference -The EU-US Relationship

Committee: Policy and Resources Date(s): 21 October 2010 Subject: Joint event with British American Project on the EU-US relationship Report of: Director of Public Relations For decision

Proposal: This report proposes that the City of London Corporation, in partnership with the British American Project, organises a high profile event on the EU-US relationship at a cost not exceeding £8,000 (including a contingency of £1,000) to be allocated from your Committee’s Policy Initiatives Fund 2010/11 and charged to City’s Cash.

Recommendation: Your Committee is recommended to agree that the City of London Corporation should organise this event on the EU-US relationship at a cost not exceeding £8,000 to be allocated from your Committee’s Policy Initiatives Fund 2010/11 and charged to City’s cash.

 

 

 

Background: The British American Project (BAP) exists to help maintain the long-standing relationship between Britain and the United States. BAP brings together young people who have achieved distinction in their field. Their annual four day conference chooses 20-24 from each side of the Atlantic, to debate issues of importance to both countries. Delegates come from a wide variety of backgrounds and include rising stars from the world of business, government, the voluntary sector, the media and the armed forces.

BAP has a very impressive list of alumni which includes the Leader of the Opposition Rt Hon Ed Miliband MP, the Executive Editor of the Economist Daniel Franklin and the Higher Education Minister Rt Hon David Willetts MP. As well as their annual conference BAP organise a number of high profile events during the year. Recent BAP events have featured the US Ambassador Louis B Susman, the Chief Political Correspondent of BBC News Laura Kuenssberg and Deputy Head of Communications (Digital) in No 10 Downing Street Rishi Saha.

In November 2008, the City of London Corporation organised a highly successful seminar, in partnership with BAP, on the implications of President Obama’s election for the global financial services industry (the approved budget being £9,000). The event was chaired by Jim Naughtie of the Today Programme and the panel discussion featured the Business editor of the Spectator Martin Vander Weyer and the Chief Foreign Affairs Columnist Gideon Rachman. The seminar and subsequent reception were attended by over 150 guests from the worlds of politics, business and media.

 

 

 

Proposal: It is proposed that the City of London, in association with BAP, organise another high profile event either in Guildhall or a Livery Hall to consider the EU-US relationship. The event will consist of a high level panel discussion before an invited audience followed by a reception. James Naughtie of the Today programme has already indicated he would be available to chair the discussion. The seminar would be followed by a reception. This report therefore proposes that the City of London organise this event at a cost not exceeding £8,000 (including a contingency of £1,000), with the funding to be allocated from your Committee’s 2010/11 Policy Initiatives Fund (categorised under the “Events” section of the Fund). This estimated cost is based on room hire and related costs (including a/v equipment) and hospitality costs for a reception for up to 150 guests.

 

 

 

Financial and Risk Implications: The option of the City Corporation providing support at a lower level has been considered and discounted because the BAP approached the City Corporation with a request that it acts as the sole funder and sponsor for the event and, given the relevance of the subject to the role of the City as the world’s leading international financial centre, this request is considered fully appropriate. There is no possibility of meeting the proposed financial support from existing local risk resources because this proposal entails, in common with other requests for funding events, research or related projects by think tanks and similar other non-profit organisations, a substantial one-off item of expenditure, for which no provision has been made in the Public Relations or other local risk budgets.

The current uncommitted balance available within your Committee’s Policy Initiatives Fund for 2010/11 amounts to some £271,000, prior to any allowance being made for any other proposals on today’s agenda.

 

 

 

Consultees: The Chamberlain and the Comptroller and City Solicitor have been consulted in the preparation of this report and their comments incorporated within it.

Conclusion: Organising a high profile event on the EU-US relationship accords well with the City of London’s core aims and fits in well with key elements of the community strategy. The event will also allow for high quality interaction with a number of the City of London’s key audiences including the City financial, political and media and the impressive BAP alumni list in particular.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Labour and Liberal Democratic Party Coalition Government – (1999-2007)

In 2002 Labour and the Liberal/Democrat’s formed a powerful coalition government in Scotland. Their political dominance over a fractured opposition provided opportunity for their politicians to introduce novel and untested working arrangements.

The Liberal/Democrats had enjoyed a long and successful history representing Scottish constituencies and had in place an efficient lobbying machine, advancing to government the interests of a number of multi-national organisations and other UK based companies. McEwan-Purvis was one such company, operating in or around Holyrood between 2001-2006.

With the assistance of government ministers, the company introduced direct links between the government and the commercial sector, (Willie Rennie’s input was substantial but largely unnoticed) through the introduction of an ALEO (given the title “The Intermediary Technology Institutes” (ITI)). Opposition party and public protests questioning the integrity of the scheme, “fell on deaf ears” and a new way of working to government was adopted by Scottish Enterprise and given a budget of budget of £450m.

The scheme, launched in 2003, was aimed at turning innovative ideas in Scottish universities into commercial triumphs, attracted hundreds of millions in public cash. However, only £600,000 was ever received in royalties.

ITI had badly malfunctioned; chronically failing to deliver the economic objectives envisaged by Scottish Enterprise and the Scottish Government. The ten year programme produced very little of the expected commercial outputs, such as new tech start-ups and licensing revenues, and was prematurely terminated by Scottish Enterprise in 2010.

This article identifies some of the characters and circumstances that resulted in such a massive loss to the Scottish Taxpayer. The route to the truth may be convoluted and lengthy but it is important Scottish electorate is appraised of the shortfalls of those who seek their vote.

 

 

 
McEwan-Purvis – A Lobbying company with direct links to the Liberal Democratic Party (operating between 2001-2006).

There were two directors and 5 shareholders: (Jeremy Purvis – Sam McEwan – Willie Rennie – Jayne Struthers – Jacqueline Wilson)

Jeremy Purvis: graduated from University in London. He then worked full-time for Sir David Steel in the House of Commons and ran his office in the House of Lords. In 1998 he moved to Edinburgh to work for political lobbying firm GJW.

In 2001 he established, with a fellow director, his own strategic communications consultancy, advising clients on communications. He was elected to the Scottish Parliament in May 2003 (suggesting that he ceased to be a director of the company before June 2003).

In August 2013 he (Baron Purvis of Tweed) was elevated politically when he was appointed to the post of “working peer” for the Liberal Democratic party, in the House of Lords.

He represents the Liberal/Democratic party on: “The Commission on Parliamentary Reform which is an independent group, established in October 2016 by Ken Macintosh, the Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament It expected to report by June 2017.

 

Sam McEwan: Was employed (from 1993) as Media Manager at “Scottish Enterprise.” (advising on public affairs issues in the software, textiles, food and biotechnology industries).

Before founding McEwan & Purvis he was manager of the Edinburgh based political lobbying firm GJW (now Weber Shandwick Worldwide).

 

 
Willie Rennie ran the Scottish Young Liberal Democrats whilst studying at college in Paisley. After graduation he left Scotland to work for the party in Cornwall, returning to Scotland in 1997 to take up the post of chief executive of the Scottish Liberal Democrats, moving on to the post of chief of staff in the new Scottish Parliament from 1999-2001.

From 2001-6 he worked for the lobbying company McEwan Purvis, primarily providing supporting advice to the Royal Society of Chemistry and the arms manufacturer Raytheon.

In 2006, Rennie won the Westminster seat of Dunfermline and West Fife in a bye-election. At Westminster, he was a member of the Lib/Dem shadow defence team, and also chair of their parliamentary campaigns unit. In November 2006 at Westminster PMQ’s Rennie (Lib/Dem defence spokesperson) asked the Prime Minister:

“After the conflict ended, cluster bombs used in Lebanon by Israel resulted in 159 casualties, including 23 deaths so far. In Geneva last week, why did the UK not support calls from the UN Secretary-General, the International Committee of the Red Cross and 27 nations for urgent action? In Oslo next year, will the Prime Minister push for a ban on those indiscriminate bombs, or does he agree with the Minister of State, Ministry of Defence, who has responsibility for the armed forces, who strongly advocates the use of such bombs?”

What a chancer, (and thick with it) Rennie was a Lobbyist employed with McEwan Purvis, (the Liberal/Democratic commercial organ) who had the merchants of death as their client. Yes, it was “Raytheon” – one of the World’s largest weapons manufacturer. Looks like “Oor Willie” is not only a political opportunist but the worst kind of hypocrite seeing as Raytheon is a proud manufacturer of, you guessed it, CLUSTER BOMBS.

He failed to hold the seat in the 2010 GE and returned to Scotland once more taking up a newly created post as special adviser to Scottish Secretary Michael Moore then Danny Alexander.

He was elected leader of Scotland’s Lib/Dems after their demolition in the 2011 Holyrood elections. In his first address to party members he stated that under his leadership the party would rediscover its soul and rebuild trust with voters. He was an honourable man who would have no truck with anyone in public office who did not measure up to the exacting standards he demanded of himself. Those who failed, for any reason would be expected by him to resign.

And so to “Frenchgate”. The exposure of former Scotland Secretary Alistair Carmichael, after much prevarication by himself, of his disgraceful, underhand leadership and devious direct involvement, with others in an attempt to smear Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon.

There were strident across the political spectrum, the public and the press for the exposed rogue and liar to stand down from the seat he won by a whisker in the Westminster Election for Orkney and Shetland. But he didn’t. That he took his place at Westminster brings politics into disrepute. And Willie and his principles. Scotland waited in vain for the word “Resignation” It was not to be.

Finally, after much pressure Willie issued the following statement:

“I have discussed the serious nature of the publication of the Scotland Office document with Alistair Carmichael. He fully understands the impact it has had on his reputation. He deeply regrets his actions, has accepted responsibility for his error of judgement, apologised to Nicola Sturgeon and the French Ambassador and declined his ministerial severance payment. I have known Alistair for almost thirty years and have worked closely with him in parliament for almost a decade. I have always been impressed by his energy, dedication and professionalism. He has served Orkney and Shetland for fourteen years and has been elected on four separate occasions. It is clear to me that recent events are an aberration. As a liberal I believe that people deserve a second chance. I hope fair minded people would agree that Alistair Carmichael should be given that second chance.”

 

 

 

 

Clients of McEwan-Purvis

Raytheon: At that time the fifth largest defence manufacturer in the world. The company had four business areas: Missile Defense; Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance; Precision Engagement; and Homeland Security. It was most famous for missiles. The company is a global leader in the development and deployment of advanced technology missile systems and air combat and strike systems”. Products include the AIM-9 Sidewinder air-air missile, the AIM-120 AMRAAM air-air missile and the Tomahawk Block IIIC Cruise Missile. and the now banned cluster bomb.

Royal Pharmaceutical Society (Scottish branch):

Royal Society of Chemistry:

Association for Science Education in Scotland:

 

 

 

 

 

Dec 2002: Scottish Parliament Science Information Service

In December 2002 the Scottish Parliament launched a one-year pilot Science Information Scheme for MSPs at the Scottish Parliament. The Scheme was promoted as a collaborative project between the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (SPICe), the Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) and the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) in association with the Institute of Physics in Scotland and the University of Edinburgh.
Scheme purpose

To ensure all MSPs had access to rapid, reliable and factual information on science, engineering and technology-related issues in order to help inform Parliamentary debates on scientific issues.
Scheme Operation

The scheme was operated through a group of 52 Topic Co-ordinators who acted as “sign posts” directing MSP queries to the appropriate expert. Queries were directed to these Topic co-ordinators through the RSC Parliamentary Liaison Officer or SPICe.
Political lobbying connection

The contacts named at the end of the press release included the Royal Society of Chemistry. The contact was named as Willie Rennie of the political lobbying company McEwan Purvis. This indicated that Rennie was passing himself off as working for a learned society while in reality he was employed by and a shareholder in the PR firm. It is common knowledge that science related organisations enjoy strong corporate links and that they routinely promote pro-corporate views on science issues.
Biased briefings

The scheme, (guaranteed to be rapid, and impartial) was run jointly by the parliament, the Royal Society of Chemistry and the Royal Society of Edinburgh, in association with other learned or scientific bodies.

Some briefings for MSPs were provided through the scheme on an anonymous basis and initially the list of “Topic Co-ordinators” was kept confidential to avoid “inhibiting” their ability to provide “free and frank” advice.

After a long struggle the Green Party gained access to the list under the freedom of information (FIA) and discovered that among the Topic Co-ordinators were Sir Tom McKillop, (then chief executive of Astra/Zeneca) and other academics with ties to industry which the Greens said made them partisan. (1)

(1) The GM crops/agrochemical divisions of Astra/Zeneca and Novartis merged in 2000 under the name Syngenta. As of 2008 Syngenta is one of the major producers of GM crops.

Perhaps not coincidentally, the SPICe briefing on GM crops was described by Dr Sue Mayer, director of campaign group Genewatch and a member of the UK Government’s Agriculture and Environment Biotechnology Commission, as “highly biased and pro-GM”.
Protests against the Scheme

Mark Ballard, the Green MSP, wrote to Holyrood’s chief executive asking for a review of the Scottish Parliament science information service saying “The scheme must be open, transparent and objective. I am deeply concerned that people providing information feel the need to hide behind a cloak of anonymity.”

Professor David Miller of Strathclyde University, who runs the internet group spinwatch claimed the parliament has been naive in its dealings with the private sector and its lobbyists. He pointed out that Willie Rennie, now a LibDem MP, effectively ran the science information scheme while working for a PR agency hired by the Royal Society of Chemistry – the kind of linkage between learned societies and private lobbyists who could represent other clients, which made it impossible to be confident of the impartiality of advice.

 

 

 
The Intermediary Technology Institutes (ITI)

Ignoring the critics warnings, (at the end of the 2003-2004 trial period) the Scheme was formally adopted by the Scottish government and titled, “The Intermediary Technology Institutes” (ITI).

Its mission statement included the statement: “to drive innovation in research and development within Life Sciences, Energy and Digital Media sectors.”

To facilitate the foregoing the ITI’s commissioned research programmes to generate assets for onward commercialisation by Scottish companies supporting Scotland’s economic growth.

(http://powerbase.info/index.php/Scottish_Parliament_Science_Information_Service) (http://www.dmiller.info/articles/16-teaching/124-greens-science-briefings-could-be-biased-by-business)

 

 

 

 

 

14 Jan 2009: Scottish Enterprise takes charge of failed ITI scheme

Scotland’s flagship technology commercialisation body is to lose its independence and come under the direct control of its main financial backer, Scottish Enterprise.

In a move to cut spending, the Intermediate Technology Institute (ITI) will become part of the publicly funded enterprise quango.

The surprise decision means that the ITI chairman, will step down and the organisation’s non-executive board will be disbanded at the end of the month.

In November, the chairman said that the organisation – set up in 2003 to commercialise intellectual property – faced a shortfall in its budget, allocated annually from Scottish Enterprise. Last year the group had a budget of £38.1 million.

The same month, Scottish Enterprise said “in future the two organisations will be working more closely together”, but the merger surprised business groups and politicians.

Scottish Enterprise yesterday said there would be no compulsory redundancies among the organisation’s 80 staff but promised there would be a review of its funding.

A spokesman denied the merger was a failure of strategy on behalf of Scottish Enterprise and said it would knock out duplication between the two organisations.

Last year, Scottish Enterprise undertook a major restructuring as more than half of its employees moved out to a new organisation, Careers Scotland, and its annual budget was slashed from £329m to £283m.
BACKGROUND to ITI

The Intermediate Technology Institutes (ITI) were set up by Scottish Enterprise in 2003 to commercialise technology based research and intellectual property in a ten-year programme with an overall budget of £450 million.

ITI Scotland oversees divisions in three main research areas: energy in Aberdeen, life sciences in Dundee and techmedia in Glasgow.

In its latest annual report, ITI Scotland said it had so far spent £134 million on 25 commercialisation projects and filed 132 patents.

 

 

 

 

 

11 Sep 2013: Holyrood urged to back Scottish Enterprise probe

The Scottish Parliament has been urged to back calls for Audit Scotland to investigate a failed Scottish Enterprise scheme (ITI) which wasted more than £230 million of taxpayers’ money. The scheme, launched in 2002, was aimed at turning innovative ideas in Scottish universities into commercial triumphs, and attracted hundreds of millions in public cash.

However, only £600,000 was ever received in royalties, and it was wound-up in 2009 having been deemed a spectacular failure. No full-scale investigation has ever taken place into why the programme did not succeed and Audit Scotland has been asked to find out what went wrong to ensure mistakes are not repeated in future, and to obtain an explanation as to how so much cash could have been wasted.

 

 

 

 

Monday 19 Jan 2015: Academics warn policy-makers must learn from their mistakes

New research examining the controversial Scottish Government funded innovation initiative – the Intermediate Technology Institutes (ITIs) – was published this week by a team of entrepreneurship researchers from the Universities of St Andrews, Glasgow and Edinburgh.The work examines the spectacular failure of the programme.

The ITIs were an extremely ambitious policy intervention launched in 2003 by Scottish Enterprise with a budget of £450m. Designed to have a major transformational impact on the Scottish economy, its main aim was to produce new high-technology start-ups and to dramatically increase the levels of business expenditure on research and development (R&D).

The researchers concluded that the ITI badly malfunctioned; chronically failing to deliver the economic objectives envisaged by Scottish Enterprise and the Scottish Government. The ten year programme produced very little of the expected commercial outputs, such as new tech start-ups and licensing revenues, and was prematurely terminated by Scottish Enterprise in 2010.

In the first independent and objective assessment of the initiative, the research examined the reasons for this policy failure.
Three comments are worthy of note

(1) The ITI programme was based on an outdated linear view of innovation. The critical stumbling block behind the policy’s failure was the inability of policy makers to properly diagnose the nature of structural problems within the Scottish entrepreneurial ecosystem.

While policy failures in the sphere of innovation policy are numerous and costly, such failures are rarely acknowledged by policy makers, as was the case of the ITIs. Arguably, this prevents the ability to learn from past mistakes.”

(2) A number of factors contributed to ITI : The research undertaken was too ‘far from market’, fitted poorly with the innovation needs of Small and medium-sized enterprises (SME’s) had too many restrictions in terms of the usage of the intellectual property (IP) and the licensing conditions were prohibitively expensive.

Innovation policy makers need to become less focused on generating the supply of new IP and more focused on increasing the ability of Scottish SMEs to undertake innovative activities and to absorb external sources of knowledge. A critical mass of innovative SMEs will provide more of a seed-bed for new tech start-ups than policies to stimulate and protect.

(3) Lessons need to be learnt to prevent similar and costly policy failures being repeated. This entails being open with external researchers and stakeholders with information and data to further understanding of the performance of policies and, crucially, the causes of failure.

The authors of the report expressed concern that Scottish politicians may not have fully absorbed the lessons from the failure of the initiative.

 

 

 

 

 

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£600million Ponzie Scheme – Glasgow and West of Scotland –  Mathon Ltd – Heather Hedge Fund – Gregory King –  Aarkad PLC – Peter Watson – Scottish lawyer and Sheriff –  Rea brothers – Lanarkshire gangsters – Steven Purcell – Allan Stewart & Stephen McKenna – Lanarkshire fraudsters – Lawrence Gillick – Bankrupt and fraudster – King & Co – Private Bank – Cannon’s Law Practice, Glasgow

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Heather Capital: How a £600 Million Hedge Fund Vanished – Big named Investors Ripped Off

In September 2008, Gregory King, a Scottish lawyer turned hedge-fund entrepreneur, celebrated his 40th birthday at a clubhouse near his Spanish villa. Several hundred of his friends, family and business associates descended on the Mediterranean for an elaborate party. As the night wore on, Mr. King got up and thanked his guests. He was riding high. After all, his hedge fund, Heather Capital, had swelled to $600 million, according to fund literature.

The fund had pulled in money from some big-name investors. The £141 billion Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan and a fund run by Nicola Horlick, a London asset manager once known as the city’s “superwoman,” were investors. And so were what reads like a who’s who of the Swiss private-banking world, as well as several major specialist hedge-fund investors and even two doctors in the U.S., according to a share register of a Heather feeder fund from December 2009 and internal Heather documentation.

Heather aimed to profit from lending directly to companies—stepping into the void created as big banks pulled away from making loans themselves. Within months of the birthday bash, however, Heather itself had folded—another apparent victim of the global credit crisis. When a hedge fund fails, its manager is usually able to return at least something to investors. Not this time. A look through the wreckage of Heather yields a surprising discovery: There is almost nothing there. Many of the loans to companies are non-collectable. Many of the commercial properties against which the fund said it lent were left lying derelict.

Fund liquidators who have been working for years to salvage some assets now allege in court filings that many of the loans to property developers were in fact “a fabrication and a sham.” No criminal cases have been brought. An examination by the Journal shows that behind Heather’s rise and fall lies a murky tale. How did Mr. King persuade investors to part with their money? And where did it all go? Heather Capital lent money secured against Scottish real estate, but investors lost everything when it collapsed. Liquidators said many of the loans amounted to “a sham.”

Mr. King hails from a family of Glasgow bookmakers and moneylenders. His cousin is Stefan King, one of the country’s most prominent bar and nightclub owners. His father is Hugh King, chairman of a bookmakers’ trade group, who drives a silver Bentley. Gregory King trained as a lawyer in Scotland and went to the University of Chicago’s business school. He came back to Glasgow and started a car dealership, which is still in business. The dealership made headlines in 2002 when Mr. King’s business partner was brutally murdered in what is one of Scotland’s most notorious unsolved crimes.

In 2004, Mr. King decided to try to start a hedge fund. He travelled across North America and Europe to find clients. He dressed smartly and gave polished presentations to prospective investors in a gentle Scottish accent. One investor described Mr. King as “friendly and engaging” and “completely down to earth.” Documents shown to investors included a 17-page due diligence questionnaire answering hundreds of potential queries about the fund.

Mr. King made investing in the fund sound “bulletproof,” said the investor, who lost money. “He knew how to say the right thing,” said the investor, adding that “he made it sound like he had this little niche.” Mr. King would talk openly about his family’s background during investor meetings. In a video posted on YouTube in late 2007, Mr. King talked of the Kings’ more than 90 years in money-lending. “There’s no projects that we’ve lent on, which you wouldn’t want to lend your own money on,” he said in the YouTube interview. “We see ourselves as a very low-risk lender in these markets.” He said Heather dealt with “property professionals.” He had a big-name executive, Santo Volpe, co-founder of hedge-fund firm Eden Rock, advise Heather on how to raise money from institutional investors.

Mr. Volpe says Mr. King was a personal friend who “didn’t know anything about hedge funds. That is why he asked me to help him set up his fund.” “I never had any input on the investment activities of Heather,” Mr. Volpe said, adding he was never remunerated by Heather. He said he doesn’t know where Mr. King is now.

One of Mr. King’s funds hired as a director Peter Watson, a high-profile Scottish lawyer and part-time judge who has been on a committee debating press regulation in Scotland.

Mr. King talked up Heather on CNBC and, in an interview published in March 2008 in the Financial Times, said Heather had only had one loan default in three years. Heather’s performance figures were the stuff of hedge-fund investors’ dreams. Heather said it made money every single month between January 2005 and August 2008, averaging slightly more than 1% a month, or about 13% a year, according to a September 2008 presentation. That summer, Vatican records show, Mr. King became a knight of the Pontifical Order of Pope St. Sylvester.   Cash poured in.

But there had been signs of trouble, including highly unusual statements in Heather’s accounts. In the 2006 and 2007 accounts, auditor KPMG had flagged around £150 million of loans that Heather had made to Gibraltar-based companies, some of which, according to the accounts, were connected to Mr. King. KPMG said it didn’t know what the money had been lent out for. Meanwhile, another investor was troubled that Heather said it couldn’t reveal who it lent money to because of debtor privacy laws. In an internal memo, the investor described that reason as “trite and unconvincing.”

Major financial Investors in the fund included, Banque Privée Edmond de Rothschild Europe, Bordier & Cie, Peak Partners, Bank Julius Baer & Co., Quilvest, Union Bancaire Privée a unit of HSBC Private Bank, Bramdean Alternatives and the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan

Mr. King ran Heather for years from an office in Gibraltar. Now he lives in a villa in a country club whose members include corporate chief executives. It has two golf courses and stables and describes itself as “possibly the most beautiful site in Europe.” The club sits behind a guardhouse a short drive into hills above the town of Marbella, Spain. The Mediterranean stretches out below.

In late 2008 and early 2009, amid the financial crisis, worried investors pulled their money out of hedge funds across the board. Heather’s clients were no different. Heather quickly stopped giving them their cash, and it was put into liquidation in 2010. Liquidators took control of Heather and began looking for investors’ money. It was identified that some of the money ended up back in Glasgow, far from the world of high finance.

A chief beneficiary appears to have been Mr. King himself. According to Heather’s financial reports filed at the Isle of Man’s companies registry, he personally took nearly £52 million in fees between 2005 and 2008. The money was paid to a British Virgin Islands company controlled by Mr. King, and the amounts were in large part justified by Heather’s supposedly sterling performance.

But performance turned out to be anything but. In 2008, according to the accounts, Heather wrote down £76 million on its loans and £92 million on foreign-exchange losses. There was a pattern. Heather would make large loans, ostensibly for property development. The loans often wouldn’t be paid back, leaving the beneficiaries with the cash. Over the years, much of the cash Heather raised from investors appears to have been disbursed this way.

Heather made many loans through a British entity called Mathon Ltd., which was also controlled by Mr. King. But an examination of lending and land records shows that Mathon often lent money against poor-quality properties. They include rundown churches, derelict pubs on the outskirts of Glasgow and a former garden centre in a Scottish port town.

At many of the sites, there is no sign that Heather’s borrowers carried out development. Industrial land in a village outside Glasgow had rubbish strewn around its rusting, broken gates. A pub called The Winning Post had, after being vandalized, been demolished and now consists of nothing more than a few rocks on a vacant lot. And a site on the banks of the river Clyde in the working-class district of Yoker lies strewn with litter, with its remaining buildings boarded up. Mathon’s liquidators say in a court filing that they have minimal documentation of the loans it made.

An examination revealed that some of Mathon’s borrowers—the purported developers of the sites—were unusual. Five companies that received 10 loans from Mathon listed boxing promoter Mario Rea as a director or secretary. Another loan was made to a company of which Mario’s twin brother, Carlo, was director and cousin Anthony was secretary. Regulatory filings show that 9 of these 11 loans are still outstanding.

In 2008. Scottish authorities charged Mario and Carlo Rea with money-laundering offences unrelated to Mathon, but the charges were later dropped. Mario Rea was found guilty last year of assault at a cinema near Glasgow and sentenced to 200 hours of community service. The U.K.’s Insolvency Service barred Mario Rea from serving as a director for seven years in 2011 and cousin Anthony Rea for nine years in 2010 for unexplained money transfers, involving in part companies that borrowed from Mathon.

Other beneficiaries of Mathon loans were firms part-owned by businessman Lawrence Gillick. Two firms each borrowed money from Mathon in 2006 and 2007. Regulatory filings show that none of those loans have been paid back. Mr. Gillick was declared bankrupt in 1980, according to government records. And in the 1990s, the Salvation Army obtained a court judgement against him, forcing him to sell a property, after the charity lost £8.8 million in an alleged fraud.

Companies controlled by Scottish businessmen Allan Stewart and Stephen McKenna also received at least 11 loans from Mathon. Most of these were not paid back, according to regulatory filings. According to government notices, Mr. Stewart had been banned by a court from serving as a company director for seven years in the 1990s.

By December 2010, liquidator Paul Duffy of Ernst & Young had realized that the quality of the real estate that Heather had seized when loans defaulted was “very poor,” and he told investors they were unlikely to get anything at all, according to a letter to investors. A spokesman for Ernst & Young said the liquidation of Heather and its feeder funds is complex and progress had been hampered by “the initial dearth of information.”

With so few answers, liquidators are now turning up the heat. Civil proceedings in the High Court in London have raised the possibility of fraud. In a case in which Mathon’s liquidators sought disclosure of documents, the liquidators said properties valued on Mathon’s books at around £161 million had been sold for just £8 million. They alleged that the loan book was a sham concocted to hide the fact that money may have been embezzled.

The High Court judge hearing the dispute concluded there is strong indication that “fraudulent conduct exists even though the precise nature of the fraud and the identities of those involved still needs to be ascertained.” Investors, meanwhile, have been left with few answers.

King

2010-2011 – Scottish Crime & Drug Enforcement Agency

In 2010, the Law Society of Scotland received allegations that Cannon’s Law Practice, in Glasgow was involved in the embezzlement of millions of pounds of cash linked to Heather Capital and Gregory King, a director of Mathon Ltd and Heather Capital’s founder. The society completed a financial audit of the company and submitted a report to the Scottish Crime & Drug Enforcement Agency, who obtained search warrants and recovered documentation from the company in July 2011. Information recovered identified that millions of pounds had passed through Cannon’s client account in relation to a series of offshore transactions involving their client, Gregory King.

Police Scotland submitted reports to the Crown Office. The Lord Advocate – Frank Mulholland – is still to decide on whether any prosecutions will take place in relation to the collapse of Heather Capital and the hundreds of millions of pounds lost to private investors. A legal insider said it would be a difficult proposition for the Crown Office to deny any knowledge of the SCDEA raid on Cannons Law firm in 2011 or knowledge of what would have likely been a lengthy SCDEA investigation prior to warrants being served.

14 Feb 2015: Suspension of Sheriff Watson

In February 2015, Sheriff Peter Watson was suspended by Scotland’s top judge Lord Gill, after the Judicial Office received enquiries from the media in relation to a multi million pound writ naming Watson among a slew of allegations in the £400m collapse of Heather Capital, a hedge fund set up by Spanish based Gregory King. It has since been reported Watson held a number of directorships in firms linked to the collapsed hedge fund – directorships including Aarkad PLC, based in the Isle of Man. Mathon – another company linked to the collapsed hedge fund, and a directorship of King & Co, a private bank set up by the Hedge Fund’s founder – Gregory King.

18 Aug 2015: Heather Capital (Hedge Fund) collapse – Court of Session – Lord Woolman Presiding

Lord Woolman:: Heather Capital Ltd (‘HC’) was incorporated in the Isle of Man in 2005. Prior to its liquidation in 2010 it had received investments exceeding $400 million. The present action has been raised in its name by the liquidator. The first defender is the firm of Levy & McRae. The other defenders are individuals, who were partners in the firm in the period from 1 January 2007 to 31 December 2008.

The liquidator contends that the company was defrauded of a sum of about £90 million. The scheme involved the transfer of funds to companies incorporated in Gibraltar that were owned or controlled by one of Heather Capital’s directors, Gregory King. A firm of solicitors in Gibraltar, Hassans, acted in these transactions. According to the liquidator, in early 2007 Heather Capital’s auditors raised queries about these transactions. Subsequently, Mr King sought to conceal their true nature.

One of the transactions concerned a company called Westernbrook Properties Limited. On 4 January 2007 the sum of £19 million was paid into the first defender’s client account. It was paid out 5 days later to an account with HSBC Private Bank in Monaco held by a Panamanian company. On 24 January 2008 the sum of £9.4 million was paid into the first defender’s client account. It was paid out on 28 March to the client account of Hassans. On 23 December 2008 a payment of £200,000 was made to the eighth defender, Mr Peter Watson, from Hassans’ client account. The case was continued.

Comprehensive analysis of Watson’s activities here:

https://petercherbi.wordpress.com/tag/peter-watson/

 

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Infamous Red Rose Dinner Motherwell 2002 – Jack McConnell, Frank Roy, John Reid & the labour Party in Scotland – Murder of Justin McAlroy. Trial & conviction of William Gage – Robert Wright & Les Brown Drug Traffickers

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March 2004: William Gage jailed for 20 years for killing of gangster Justin McAlroy

On the 3rd of March 2002 convicted drug dealer, Justin McAlroy co-hosted, (with his father) a charity fundraising dinner for the Labour Party, at his father’s Motherwell based, golf and country club . A number of Labour Party dignitaries, including Frank Roy, MP for Wishaw, Jack McConnell, and John Reid, the former home secretary attended. Also present were a number of Special Branch bodyguards, senior police officers and a surveillance team from the Scottish Drugs Enforcement Agency (SDEA) who maintained a 24 hour surveillance on drug dealer, Justin McAlroy. The event was one of the now infamous “Red Rose Dinners”, which raised funds from businessmen, (including the building firm run by Labour Party supporter Tommy McAlroy who donated thousands of pounds to the Scottish Labour party.) for Jack McConnell and other Labour election campaigns .

The SDEA had recently tailed Justin McAlroy to and from Europe, at the time he travelled to Estonia where he held meetings with a number of local businessmen (who were arrested at a later date, while trying to smuggle a multi-million pound consignment of heroin into Scotland.) McAlroy had been openly boasting about various meetings between himself and senior figures within the Russian Mafia and claimed he had previously travelled out to meet them and had also entertained them in a Glasgow hotel.

On 7 March 2002, four days after the charity dinner Justin McAlroy stepped out of his Mercedes jeep outside his house and was shot dead. The SDEA, asked why they had not witnessed nor filmed the incident said that (after four years of 24 hour surveillance and despite Justin McAlroy’s serious criminal activities and associates) they had decided that McAlroy was no longer a person of interest and removed the surveillance. It transpired after that the surveillance operation on McAlroy had been lax since he had been fully aware, (for many months) of the SDEA surveillance of himself (confirmed by his widow Tracy to the Jury at the High Court in Glasgow.)

It was revealed later that Justin McAlroy had slipped more than ten thousand pounds into the Labour party coffers during the charity dinner. The revelation was serious since it would be difficult to announce publicly that McAlroy, a suspected gangster and heroin importer, with links to the Russian Mafia had donated to the Party. So the donation was not declared. In an amazing twist the local party secretary, who worked in the Wishaw office (shared by Jack McConnell and Frank Roy) was subsequently jailed for misappropriating the money!

While it is clear that major heroin barons do amass millions of pounds, that money comes from ten-pound deals. Every tenner comes from someone finding their house burgled or some poor pensioner being kicked to death for their meagre pension money.

On the 2nd of May 2002, two full months after Justin McAlroy murder (it was alleged by solicitor Bob Kerr) that the MP for Wishaw Frank Roy had been contacted by a person connected to Justin McAlroy.

Kerr claimed that one of the police officers involved in the murder enquiry told him that the MP for Wishaw Frank Roy had contacted a senior officer in charge of the murder enquiry and somehow put pressure on the officer to make a bogus arrest in order that Justin McAlroy case would be closed quickly. The very next morning William Gage was arrested and charged with the murder.

Follow up: Gage was tried and convicted of the murder of McAlroy on 7 February 2004 and sentenced to 20 year’s without remission. He is still in Shotts Prison. He has consistently denied the offence but despite two appeals he remains in jail.

Full story:

https://innocent.org.uk/2016/04/08/man-kept-in-prison-due-to-spurious-immuendo-2006/
http://paulviking.websitetoolbox.com/post/police-are-creating-an-us-and-them-environment-1523749
http://s11.invisionfree.com/Creativewriters/ar/t2291.htm
http://shirleymckie.myfastforum.org/ftopic420-0-asc-200.php
https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2009/jun/23/glasgow-murder-case-review
http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/298466/Drug-dealer-s-murderer-loses-second-appeal
https://stv.tv/news/scotland/west-central/295263-man-jailed-for-gangland-murder-of-drug-dealer-has-appeal-rejected/
https://youtu.be/OIwySfSNxjs Part 1 Gage speaks from prison
https://youtu.be/sQm6bKKNt9k Part2 Gage speaks from prison

After-notes:

Justin McAlroy had been under surveillance for many months. He had contacts with figures in Glasgow’s underworld and was also owed someone £50k. Jack McConnell must have been aware of  this well before attending a fundraiser at Justin’s dads club. McConnell had signed a police warrant allowing them listen to phone calls. Police drug agency officers visited Jack days before the dinner. Police say they was no surveillance on the night of the murder due to being “short staffed”. In a largely circumstantial case, when did the crown ever care about proof?

What is unbelievable is that Willie Gage was charged with putting six bullets into Justin. This does not fit the profile of Gage who had been convicted of armed robbery some years earlier. The jury were not told that he was not armed at the time of the robbery. He had been recruited as the getaway driver and  his co-accuse, (the gunman in the jewellery robbery) had brandished a toy pistol. There was no armed robbery. Anyone arranging a contract killing would have the sense to hire a competent hit-man not someone who had never carried a weapon. And there is the unresolved question about the lifting of the surveillance. Why was it removed? There is also the matter of the man that had visited Justin just 4 days before his murder to tell him he was running out of time to pay his debt.

The McAlroy Link to Estonia was later confirmed when it was revealed that Tommy McAlroy, and his son Justin secretly visited the country and were seen meeting drug smugglers in Estonia. He claimed they were discussing a bakery business with Robert Wright and Les Brown, businessmen friends of Justin and himself.

16 October 2005: After 70 court hearings costing the Scottish taxpayer £1Million, drug smuggler set to walk free from Estonian jail.

A heroin trafficker whose four- year battle to stay in the country cost Scots taxpayers £1million was finally extradited last week – only to be told he could walk free. Millionaire Les Brown, 49, admitted trying to flood Scotland with heroin when he appeared in court in Tallinn, Estonia. But prosecutors said he could be free in two weeks as he spent so long in jail fighting extradition.

Brown, of Bearsden, Glasgow, and associate Robert Wright, 38, of Bathgate, West Lothian, were accused of trying to bring huge amounts of heroin into Scotland in 2000. Their car and driver were snared in the Baltic with a fuel tank stuffed with the drug after a cross-border police operation.

Brown made a mockery of the justice system by repeatedly appealing against extradition and clocked up more than 70 court hearings. The duo’s various excuses included: They were secret agents for MI5. The jail in Tallinn was not up to standard. The Russian Mafia were out to get them. Brown had a dodgy heart.

Brown was flown to Tallinn and pleaded guilty to being involved in a drugs syndicate. He admitted his part in the scam and was remanded while prosecutors prepared papers for the sentencing judge. The Estonian justice system takes into account the length of time spent on remand in other countries and it is expected that Brown will be set free and told to leave the country.” (Sunday Mail)

Robert Wright

20 Jan 2008: Heroin Smuggler Robert Wright Turns Security Tycoon

One of Scotland’s biggest drug traffickers has reinvented himself as a security tycoon selling advice to police and the Disney Corporation. Heroin smuggler-turned-security consultant Robert Wright welcomed undercover reporters into his steel lined, bomb-proof offices and bragged about his big-money contracts. His change of career has fuelled claims that the new security industry watchdog, The Security Industry Authority (SIA) are failing to root out criminals.

Wright, convicted in Estonia in 2005 describes himself as a consultant to Sheffield-based Feba Custodia. He and another Scots gangster, Lewis “Scooby” Rodden, boasted of raking in cash from South Yorkshire Police, Asda and Disney stores.

Wright said: “I am working in security again. Believe it or not, I am working with the police in Sheffield on an advisory capacity – on the CCTV liaison unit.” Showing off the fortress-like building where he works, he said: “It’s completely bomb-proof, all steel-structured – you can see the pillars in the corner. There’s a membrane around it. It’s phenomenal.” Bragging about his high-profile clients, Wright said: “There’s all the Asdas. We do Disney stores. The M1, Sheffield city centre.” And he boasted that Feba have even been awarded the SIA’s industry gold standard which strengthens contract bids

He said: “The security firm I have started have just been approved by the SIA Approved Contractors’ Scheme.” But he warned: “Just to reiterate what I’ve said – everything we’ve been talking about, everything I’m doing, is completely confidential.”  (The Record)

8 Apr 2008: Drug Smuggler to Lose Art Collection in Crime Seizure

Drug trafficker, Robert Wright, convicted of attempting to traffic heroin worth a potential £2.8m into Scotland agreed to part with his art collection to pay for a crime profits seizure. He will lose an oil painting by leading Scottish artist Peter Howson along with works by painter Frank McFadden. (The Herald)

13 Feb 2011: Convicted Heroin Dealer Robert Wright Allowed to Sell £610k Mansion Despite Drugs Plot

A major heroin smuggler is free to flog his £610,000 mansion … as it wasn’t targeted under proceeds of crime laws. Security firm boss Robert Wright, has put sprawling home “Ten Acres” on the market. The house has six bedrooms, snooker room, cinema and is set in 10 acres of land. Buyers are told the driveway is big enough to park a fleet of 20 cars. At one time Wright owned his own Formula One racing car and a fleet of other expensive motors. Wright’s wife Gillian paid £275,000 for the property in the village of Westfield, near Bathgate, West Lothian, 12 years ago. (The Record)

 

 

 

 

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The Rea brothers – Major crimes in Lanarkshire – fraud – money laundering – Multi Million £ Ponzie Scheme – Glasgow City & North Lanarkshire labour Councils – Greg King Glasgow Tycoon – Imran Hussain

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14 Dec 2008: “Red Rose” Twins Arrested in Money Laundering swoop

Two boxing promoters have been arrested in a massive dirty money investigation. Twins Carlo and Mario Rea, 30, were among six men held in a Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency swoop early on Friday. The millionaire brothers were arrested at their homes shortly after 6am and charged with money laundering offences. The Lanarkshire businessmen also face charges under the Misuse of Drugs Act.

The Reas are former friends of wanted VAT fraudster Imran “Immy” Hussain who is exiled in Dubai. Customs officers want to question Hussain in connection with a £500million carousel scam.

The twins took charge of Dalziel Park, in Motherwell, six years after it was at the centre of the Red Rose Dinner controversy. The then First Minister Jack McConnell was embarrassed when it emerged he had attended a fundraising dinner with suspected drug dealers and gangsters.The Reas Dubai-based firm Flyright bought the club from tycoon Tommy McAlroy for £2.5million.

A SDEA spokeswoman said: “Six males, between 20 and 54 years, were arrested and charged for money laundering and Misuse of Drugs Act offences. “They were released from custody and a report is being submitted to the procurator fiscal. This is part of a long-running SCDEA investigation.” (Daily Record)

18 Jul 2010: Cash probe brothers lose hotel after going bust with £2.5m debts

A Luxury hotel and country club linked to the Rea family (at the centre of a dirty money probe) has gone bust with debts of £2.5million. The Dalziel Park and Conference Centre, was forced into the hands of administrators after they failed to pay their creditors.

In 2008, Mario and twin Carlo were arrested as part of an investigation by the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency (SDEA) into money laundering and drugs offences. It has now emerged that Mario Rea, 31, has had his assets frozen by Crown prosecutors. The hotel, in Motherwell, is set to be sold after banking bosses called in the administrators to take charge of the firm, Dalziel Assets Limited. Under the terms of the Licensing Act (Scotland) 2005 any business which goes into administration automatically loses its permanent drinks licence.

The family took charge of the hotel in 2007 after buying it for more than £2million. Banking group Santander, who provided security for the purchase, claim they are owed £2.5million from Dalziel Assets Limited. The administrators KPMG have admitted they are unlikely to recoup the money. (Daily Record)

1 Jan 2012: Dalziel Park Country Club Championship Golf Course Destroyed – Property markedly Devalued

Last week, Anthony Rea and Nadia Wright were banned by the Insolvency Service for a total of 16 years after £4million went missing from the club, which is now in administration.

Half of the 18 holes at Dalziel Park (linked to a money laundering probe) have been ripped apart and.are unplayable after thieves stripped out tons of valuable topsoil from fairways and greens – leaving an ugly lunar landscape.The systematic vandalism – using plant equipment – has been reported to police three times.

Administrator Blair Nimmo, of KPMG, has drafted in security to prevent more damage at the hotel and conference centre in Motherwell, Lanarkshire. He said: “We’ve never had anything like this before. “Usually, we wouldn’t have 24-hour security on a bit of land. “We’ve heard several rumours and are worried about damage done to any assets we control. It’s very disappointing.”

A club insider said: “Some of the damage was done last year and it’s on an industrial scale. “The members were furious. A deal was done to sell the topsoil for a football club’s new training ground but that fell through. “It was once a championship course. Now you can only play nine holes. “One theory is that whoever was responsible was trying to drive down the price that the administrators KPMG will be able to charge.” (Daily Record)

Jan 8 2012: A millionaire boxing promoter at the centre of a drugs and dirty money probe has been banned from being a company director.

Mario Rea, 33, landed the seven-year directorship ban for failing to explain where £578.4k paid into the bank accounts of property firm DMR Assets came from. Rea, who ran DMR with twin brother Carlo, also refused to reveal to Insolvency Service investigators why £776.5k was withdrawn from the firm. Of that, £637.9k was taken from the company’s accounts between November 2007 and December 2008. Another £138.6k was withdrawn from the client account of the firm’s lawyer between July 2008 and January 2009. The twins were directors of the Coatbridge-based firm, which went into administration in January 2009 with debts of £3million.

Mario Rea, previously one of the owners of the plush Dalziel Park hotel and conference centre in Motherwell, was disqualified from holding a directorship at Airdrie Sheriff Court last month. He lives in one of Scotland’s most expensive streets – Countess Gate in Bothwell, Lanarkshire. The Insolvency Service said: “We take steps to remove individuals whose conduct is not in the public interest. The disqualification means he will be banned from acting as a company director, or in any way controlling a company, until December 26, 2018.”

It was recently revealed that the Rea twins – along with four other men – had been arrested and charged with drugs and money-laundering offences by the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency. (Daily Record)

Mario Centre
22 September 2013: Thug Tycoon Twins Convicted of Vicious Attacks on Members of the Lyons Crime Clan

Thug tycoon brothers Mario and Carlo Rea have been found guilty of assaulting members of the Lyons crime clan.

The latest attack was in front of terrified kids at a cinema pick ‘n’ mix counter. Failed businessman Mario, 34, was accused of pulling a knife on Liam Boyle, 32, in front of terrified kids at a cinema pick ‘n’ mix counter. He admitted assault but the charge was altered to say he used a key and not a blade. He is now awaiting sentence.

Days earlier, both twins were convicted of a street attack which put another Lyons hood in hospital. Eddie Lyons Jr was severely beaten at the birthday party of Rea associate Barry Cushley in August 2011. The Rea twins were arrested for the attack, which was caught on CCTV in Coatbridge town centre.

Lyons was previously shot twice in a drugs war with the rival Daniel gang, and has also been cleared of attempted murder. He was not named on the charge sheet in the Reas’ case, suggesting he did not co-operate with police. The charge said the Reas assaulted an unknown male by repeatedly punching and kicking him on the head and body. They were both handed 18-month restriction of liberty orders at Airdrie Sheriff Court on Tuesday, and told to do 200 hours’ community service.

On Thursday, Mario’s jury trial for the assault on Boyle began at Hamilton Sheriff Court. He carried out the attack in August 2012 at the Vue Cinema in the town while on bail for the assault on Lyons, but said he acted in self-defence. Cinema manager Alison Dryden told the court the venue was busy at the time with children going to afternoon screenings. She said she saw Mario leaving a queue and going towards the pick ’n’ mix area, where he punched Boyle, who was with a small boy.

Ms Dryden told the court she saw Rea holding what appeared to be a five-inch knife to his victim’s face. After she was cross-examined, Rea, of Bothwell, Lanarkshire, pled guilty to an amended charge which replaced “knife” with “key”. He also admitted repeatedly hitting Boyle before pushing him through a fire escape. Sheriff Joyce Powrie deferred sentence until December 17.

The twins’ convictions delighted detectives who have seen them walk away from serious probes involving drugs, money laundering and violence. One source said: “The Reas love to strut around posing as successful young businessmen, but the reality is they’re just a couple of neds.”

In 2007, we revealed that the twins were targeted in a major probe by the now defunct Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency. They were among six men charged over drugs and money laundering, but the Crown dropped the case.

Mario and a sacked North Lanarkshire Council planning official were reported to the Crown for alleged corruption over a land deal, but that case was also dropped. And both twins were arrested in connection with a street attack on ex-boxer Craig Windsor snr. Again, prosecutors did not proceed.

As well as the Lyons fall-out, the Reas have been at the centre of a feud with drugs ban boxer Craig Windsor jnr, who police have told to back off. Mario is serving a seven-year ban from being a company director. He failed to explain where £578.4k in a property firm’s accounts came from, or why £776.5k was withdrawn from it. In June last year, we also told how Mario had been warned that his life was in danger from a crime gang with links to the Real IRA. (Daily Record)

1 Nov 2015: Cops fail in bid to stop controversial businessman operating as a landlord

Former boxing promoter Carlo Rea was on North Lanarkshire Council ’s register of accredited private landlords. Police tried to block the renewal of Rea’s ­registration but the bid was thrown out by ­councillors in North Lanarkshire at a meeting held in private. A source said: “The police told the council they thought Rea’s ­application should be rejected. “The fact their request was rejected is disappointing but not surprising.”

The 37-year-old twins have also been linked to the ­£600million collapse of offshore hedge fund Heather Capital, run by Glasgow lawyer Greg King. His fund loaned DMR Assets Ltd, which was run by the Reas, £4.8million to develop plots of derelict land across central ­Scotland. When DMR went bust, administrators were able to claw back just £1.8million.

The Rea twins were at the ­centre of a 2008 ­Scottish Crime and Drug ­Enforcement Agency probe and charged with drugs and money laundering offences. But Crown Office prosecutors dropped the case in March 2012 due to insufficient evidence.

In 2013, Carlo and Mario were ­convicted of attacking Eddie Lyons Jr – a member of the Lyons crime clan – at the birthday party of Rea ­associate Barry Cushley in ­Coatbridge in 2011. Both Reas were handed 18-month restriction of liberty orders at Airdrie Sheriff Court and told to do 200 hours’ ­community service.

Also in 2011, the twins were arrested in connection with a street attack on ex-boxer Craig Windsor snr but prosecutors did not proceed with charges.

North Lanarkshire Council said a ­sub-committee considered whether Carlo Rea should stay on the register. A ­spokesman said: “The ­committee decided that Carlo Rea remained a fit person to be on the register.” Police Scotland said: “We can confirm we did raise an objection in relation to this matter. However we note the council’s decision.”

In 2009 North ­Lanarkshire Council planner Danny Welsh, 43, was sacked for ­taking gifts from Mario. Charges against the pair were dropped but Welsh lost an unfair sacking claim.

The Insolvency Service barred Mario from serving as a director for seven years in 2011 for ­unexplained money transfers.

He was sentenced in 2013 to 200 hours’ community service for assaulting Lyons associate Liam Boyle with a key at a cinema.  (Daily Record)

10 Dec 2015: Dalziel Park Used as an Illegal Waste Dump

A businessman has been ordered to do unpaid community work after he admitted illegal dumping in Motherwell. Carlo Rea had waste including stones and soil sent to upmarket Dalziel Park where he owned the hotel and golf course.

Rea appeared at Airdrie Sheriff Court last week and admitted acting as an unlicensed waste carrier between March and July 2011. He was ordered to do 180 hours of unpaid work as a direct alternative to prison.

The court heard that throughout the four-month period Rea’s company OTL Plant & Haulage Contractor transported more than 5,000 tonnes of waste soils and stones to Dalziel Park although no waste management licence or exemption was in force at the site. Carriers are supposed to ensure that waste is taken to a suitably licensed facility which can accept and treat waste appropriately.

Rea also failed to register his company as a licensed waste carrier or produce notes describing the waste type and where each waste load had been taken to. The rules are in place to ensure waste is disposed of correctly and to deter illegal dumping.

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency was alerted to the breaches following an investigation into illegal dumping at Longriggend, near Airdrie. A SEPA spokesman said: “The unravelling of this case has been a long process, involving a number of different companies and individuals from the waste industry. “Dumping waste illegally is not only reckless, it can cause serious harm to the environment which over time could start to contaminate the surrounding landscape if left unchecked. “Providing business to unlicensed groups or individuals is not only illegal, it undercuts legitimate waste carriers, promotes bad practice and starts to impact on the wider industry.”

Rea ran the Dalziel Park hotel and leisure complex for a number of years and promoted boxing events there. He is no stranger to the courts. He and his twin, Mario, were given community service for assault in 2013 and last year Carlo, of Coatbridge, got another unpaid work order for driving while disqualified. Two months ago North Lanarkshire Council allowed him to stay on its list of accredited landlords despite a police objection.The twins were targeted in a police drugs and money laundering probe a number of years ago, but the case was dropped.(Motherwell Times)

 

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Lap dance club owner Steven MacDonald  – Mortgage Arranger – Iain Mulholland, (brother of Scotland’s top prosecutor Lord Advocate, Frank Mulholland )

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14 Jun 2014: Immigration Raid on Lap Dance Club
Immigration officers raided a Glasgow city centre lap dancing club. Home Office enforcement vans arrived at Diamond Dolls in Mitchell Street at around 6pm yesterday. Officers from Police Scotland were stationed at the door for several hours. A spokesman for Police Scotland said: “Officers were in attendance supporting the UK Border Agency.” Diamond Dolls was the focus of the first episode of recent Channel 4 documentary series. (highbeam.com)

15 Jun 2014: Police Blitz Tycoon’s Dirty Dance Empire:

Police launch a massive, synchronised operation against a tycoon’s lap-dancing empire. Scores of officers swooped on three clubs and the home of businessman Steven MacDonald. Officers from Police Scotland, the Security Industry Authority and the new UK Visas and Immigration unit hit Glasgow’s Diamond Dolls club, Baby Dolls show-bar in Edinburgh and Club Earth nightclub in Livingston. Macdonald was on holiday when investigators arrived at his Livingston home as part of the raids at 6pm on Friday. Officers were looking for victims of human trafficking, illegal workers and drugs. (highbeam.com)

6 Nov 2014: Lap dancing Club Tycoon Has His Assets Frozen amid Probe

A ban on the sale of properties housing two well known lap dancing clubs has been made as part of an investigation into proceeds of crime. Prosecutors have secured court orders preventing the sale of the buildings containing Glasgow’s Diamond Dolls and Edinburgh’s Baby Dolls in a civil proceeds of crime action against adult entertainment tycoon Steve MacDonald.

The Crown Office’s Civil Recovery Unit (CRU) confirmed it was pursuing Mr MacDonald, who fronts the body that lobbies for most of the country’s strip clubs, because it believes his assets are the product of illegal activity. A Crown spokesman said: “The CRU has ongoing civil recovery proceedings against Steven MacDonald. (highbeam.com)

7 Dec 2014: Strip Joint Bosses Booted Off Holyrood Task Force

Two lap dancing bosses have been booted off a Holyrood taskforce investigating human trafficking. Steven MacDonald and Tony Cochrane were told they were no longer welcome less than six months after joining the group. Joint conveners MSPs Christina McKelvie and Jenny Marra decided the pair should no longer be members of the all party taskforce that also includes experts, campaigners and individuals. Labour’s Marra, whose Private Members’ Bill will result in tough new trafficking laws, informed the men’s lawyer Janet Hood of the decision. Hood, convener of the Scottish Law Society’s Equality and Diversity Committee, was also axed as a group member. (highbeam.com)

9 Nov 2015: Police Clamp Down on Dirty Dance Clubs

Lap dance bosses say police have launched a secret war on their industry after five more venues were raided. More than half Scotland’s 17 clubs have now been targeted in the crackdown. In Aberdeen, Private Eyes, Silhouettes and Number Seven Club were swooped on by a four-man police team on the same Saturday night. Dancers were interviewed individually and fingerprinted in the unannounced raid – but no arrests were made. Another target was Fantasy Palace in Shandwick Place, Edinburgh. Around a dozen investigators from Police Scotland, the Border Agency and the Security Industry Association spent an hour questioning staff including dancers. (highbeam.com)

15 Mar 2015: Lap dance Club Boss in MSPs Probe Call

A lap dancing tycoon has asked watchdogs to probe two MSPs who kicked him off a human trafficking taskforce. Steven McDonald was removed from the cross-party group just months after joining. Fellow lap dancing boss Tony Cochrane and lawyer Janet Hood were also told they were no longer welcome by Labour’s Jenny Marra and SNP’s Christina McKelvie. All three were locked out of a Holyrood summit on trafficking last year. Now McDonald wants the Commissioner for Ethical Standards in Public Life to investigate. He claims Marra and McKelvie breached MSPs’ Code of Conduct. (highbeam.com)

27 Mar 2016: Scottish Law Chief, Frank Mulholland’s Brother, arranged the £550k loan (Which is the Subject of a Dirty Money probe by the Prosecutor’s Office)

The brother of Lord Advocate Frank Mulholland is at the centre of a dirty money probe into a lap dance tycoon’s business empire.

Iain Mulholland, the younger brother of Scotland’s top prosecutor who announced he was standing down last week, helped prepare paperwork that secured businessman Steven MacDonald a huge loan now being probed by the Crown Office. Prosecutors hunting assets linked to organised crime claim MacDonald conned bank bosses into lending him enough cash to buy his Diamond Dolls strip club.

Investigators at the Crown Office, led by his brother, who seize dirty money, property and other assets linked to organised crime claim the businessman lied on a mortgage application to get a £552k cash injection from the Bank of Scotland to purchase the property in Glasgow city centre. Mortgage broker Iain Mulholland arranged MacDonald’s loan application through his First to Mortgage firm. The loan is now the focus of a major investigation by the Civil Recovery Unit (CRU). In 2012, Mulholland opened a new company building contractor Inglis PM Ltd of Glasgow. He is the sole director.

Chartered Accountants RES Associates also prepared documents for the Bank of Scotland application before the money was paid. Mulholland has been spoken to by CRU investigators scouring the documents around the purchase of Diamond Dolls. They say paperwork claimed MacDonald earned between £193k and £272k a year. But he told HM Revenue and Customs in his tax return that he earned just £19k in 2007-8.

His lawyers said the application was based on cash he could have taken from all his businesses including Edinburgh lap dancing clubs Baby Dolls and Big Daddy O’s, which is now closed. During proceedings, he was asked about property in Dubai. He told the court that he no longer spoke to Mulholland. (highbeam.com)

29 Jan 2017: Lap dance Club Boss Plans to host a £1K table dinner for Nigel Farage
A controversial lap dance tycoon at the centre of a dirty money probe is behind a fat cat dinner for Brexit mastermind Nigel Farage. Steven MacDonald is trying to organise a black-tie Q&A night with the former Ukip leader. Macdonald, who owns clubs in Glasgow and Edinburgh – met the politician at a private event last year. Now he wants to bring Farage north of the Border to talk to entrepreneurs about Britain’s divorce from the EU and Donald Trump’s White House victory. Those attending the dinner would be charged about £1k a table. (highbeam.com)

 

 

 

 

 

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All of the following are linked directly or indirectly to Steven Purcell

Steven Purcell – Dodgy Allan Stewart & Steven McKenna – Lawyer and Sheriff, Peter Watson – Levy & McRae – Jack Irvine (The Sun) – Convicted drug dealer James Bryce.- His son Jamie similarly employed – Bar Manager of the Boundary Bar, Kelly Bryce. (Sister of Jamie) –  Convicted criminal (ex boxer) Barry Hughes – convicted criminal and drug dealer Jamie “The Iceman” Stevenson – Jeanie McDougall, Ruth Black and Paul Ferris & The Castro (Lesbian and gay drop in centre) in Merchant City – Gangsters  Justin McAlroy, Jason McAteer, Sohan Singh, James Sanderson – Gangster Jamie Daniel and his mob –  Gangster Eddie Lyon and his mob – Bridget McConnell

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Steven Purcell Leader Glasgow City Council

Born in 1972, he lived in Yoker in the west of the city and was educated at St Thomas Aquinas Secondary School. He joined the Labour Party in 1986, campaigning for Donald Dewar and helping the future Scottish first minister secure his Westminster seat in Garscadden in the 1987 election.

He was first elected as a Glasgow councillor for the ward of Blairdardie in 1995, aged just 22. Between 1999 and 2003, he was the council’s convener of development and regeneration services. During this time he oversaw the creation of the Glasgow City Plan. From 2003 until his election as leader Purcell was convener of education, and delivered a controversial £220m P.F.I. programme closing, refurbishing or rebuilding secondary schools across the city.

He was elected, unopposed, as leader of Glasgow City Council in May 2005 at the age of 32. In his time in the job he played a high-profile role in helping to bring the 2014 Commonwealth Games to Glasgow. In 2006 Mr Purcell announced he was gay and that he was separating from his wife. He had been tipped to become a future Labour leader at Holyrood or an MP but is reported to have put his wider career aspirations on hold in order to oversee a successful Commonwealth Games for Glasgow.  (BBC-News)

 

 

 

 

5 Feb 2008: £25m homes plan after East End land deal

A derelict area near the site of Glasgow’s Commonwealth Games athletes’ village is to be transformed into a £25million housing development.

Stewart & McKenna acquired the site after striking a deal with Glasgow City Council, which needed another piece of land the developers owned at nearby Millerfield Road for the 2014 Games participants’ accommodation. The developers got £1.7m as well as the new plot in Beechgrove Street after selling the parcel of land to the council.

A total of 131 flats will be built in the development. As well as six penthouses costing £180,000 each, one-bedroom flats at around £110,000 and two-bedroom apartments for £150,000, the development will feature studio flats aimed at first-time buyers. Dubbed nano flats’ by the developers, the 18 flats with balconies will cost under £100,000. The flats are due to be completed by mid-2010 after going on sale in July. (Evening Times)

After-note: Purcell and Stewart & McKenna, (land developers) enjoyed a relationship lasting many years. The land deal at Millerfield Road netted their company a significant profit since they had purchased the land at a knock down price from the City Council.  And they got a large parcel of land at Beechgrove Street for nothing. Stewart & McKenna are involved in the Gregory King £600million Ponzie scheme still under investigation by the Fraud Squad.

 

 

 

 

20 Jan 2009: Glasgow Schools to be closed and merged

More than 2,000 children in Glasgow could be affected by proposals to close 13 primary schools and 12 nurseries. Councillors will be asked later this month to consult with parents, staff and unions over the move. If final approval is given, children could be merged into new schools and nurseries from August. Parents accused the council of being “underhand” and said the proposed consultation would be “a sham”. Education officials have carried out a “city-wide assessment” of schools and nurseries which could be involved in potential merger This takes into account educational benefit, building capacity and occupancy, transport arrangements and the wider community impact.

Councillor Steven Purcell explaining the proposal to shut schools said:  “Children deserve to be in better accommodation, but in this financial climate we cannot afford to build new schools and nurseries through prudential borrowing,” so the works will be completed by extending the P.F.I. programme

The SNP group on Glasgow City Council called for each school to be looked at on its merits and warned against a “blanket” of cuts and added that  Taxpayers in Glasgow will be paying for Labour’s discredited PFI secondary school project for decades; that Labour-controlled Glasgow had chosen not to be among the councils working constructively with the Scottish Government on the SFT proposals was very disappointing”.

A Glasgow taxpayer said: “It’s clear that this is a financially motivated decision as Glasgow City Council expects to save £3.7m per year from these closures. There will be the all too familiar sham consultation process, and then the plans will be rubber-stamped by the council. Merging nurseries and primary schools into large groups will not lead to better education for children. The positive ethos and atmosphere which many of these smaller establishments currently have will be lost.”

The council said it had spent £550m on school building improvements over the past 10 years – building 64 new schools and refurbishing five others. All of the projects had been funded using Public Finance Initiative (PFI) funding, borrowing and receipts generated from the sale of surplus land and property. (BBC-News)

After-note: The council despite public opposition, including school sit-ins by parents, implemented their programme of change. Many schools were demolished and replaced with a much reduced schools list. Purcell and PFI had won out yet again bringing new buildings but requiring the Council to accept massive debts (lease/lending the properties) for periods between 50-90 years. The Glasgow Taxpayer stung badly.

 

 

 

 

23 Jun 2009: Games village developer unveiled

Glasgow City Council has named the consortium which it wants to build the athletes’ village for the 2014 Commonwealth Games. City Legacy – including architect RMJM, which designed the Scottish Parliament – is the preferred bidder for the 38.5 hectare site in Dalmarnock. The development will provide accommodation and facilities for 6,500 competitors and officials. The village will provide 1,400 homes for sale and rent after the games.

Steven Purcell, said: “The athletes’ village will be one of the most recognisable aspects of the legacy of the 2014 Commonwealth Games – and certainly one of the most important. “I look forward to the successful delivery of a key part of the games, and later, the creation of a stunning new neighbourhood for the city as Glasgow’s regeneration continues.

Glasgow City Council will make the village site available to City Legacy at “nil cost” in order to reduce borrowing requirements. The developer will then enter into a profit-sharing arrangement with the council at the end of the project. When the games are over, the site will be redeveloped to include 1,100 private homes and about 300 for rent. There will also be a 120-bed social work care home for the elderly. Preparatory work on the site is expected to begin later this year with construction scheduled to start in autumn 2010.(BBC News)

After-note: The much vaunted 124 bed social work care home is not yet complete (nearly 3 years after the games) and there are other problems associated with the overall development. Locals are not happy.

 

 

 

 

2 Mar 2010: Glasgow council leader Steven Purcell stands down

The former leader of Glasgow City Council is being treated in hospital for what his advisers described as “exhaustion”.Steven Purcell’s resignation was announced at a special meeting of the council’s Labour group

In a statement issued on Purcell’s behalf, Peter Watson, of Levy & McRae solicitors said: “Earlier this morning Steven made the effort to telephone his resignation as leader of Glasgow City Council. Steven does this with a heavy heart but the strain of running one of the UK’s largest authorities combined with the added pressures of the Commonwealth Games planning and the controversy over Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT) has just proved too much for a man who lived and breathed Glasgow 24 hours a day. We have received an enormous groundswell of support from all sides of the political spectrum for Steven for which he is very grateful. His family would now like him to be left in peace to recover his health. It is now up to the Labour Group to decide what is the best way forward for their party, and the people of Glasgow, and I know Steven wishes them well in their deliberations.”

Purcell was not at the short meeting of the Labour councillors, in which they were told of his decision to step down but Purcell’s colleagues were said to have become aware he was considering resignation on Saturday. He then confirmed his intention to step down late on Monday evening. Earlier Jack Irvine, a spokesman for Mr Purcell said he had been “under enormous pressure”. He added: “Steven agreed to seek medical help immediately and subsequently he is now under doctor’s orders.”

Glasgow City Council has been contacted by Levy & McCrae representing Mr Purcell and have agreed to make no official statement on his health.  A Scottish Labour Party spokesman said: “We hope Steven makes a full recovery.” (BBC News)

After-note: The entire press release was a smokescreen organised by Peter Watson and Levy & McCrae designed to “buy time” so that they would be able to protect their client. Note that the Council  was cut out of “the loop”. Jack Irvine was dismissed from his post as spokesman for Purcell.

 

 

 

 

5 Mar 2010: The former leader of Glasgow City Council, Steven Purcell has resigned his council seat, it has been confirmed.

Having spent three days at a rehabilitation clinic in the Borders specialising in treating drug and alcohol addiction as well as other conditions Purcell, who quit as leader of the council on Tuesday announced that he had also stood down as councillor for the Drumchapel and Anniesland ward “to take a period of rest and recuperation”.

In a statement released on Friday afternoon, solicitor advocate Peter Watson of Levy McRae, the legal firm which is representing 37-year-old Purcell, said: “Steven Purcell tendered his resignation today. “He did so with much sadness but with great support from friends, family and many well-wishers from every part of the city. “Steven has accepted advice that he must now concentrate on his health and well-being. As he steps out of public life, he now wishes to be left in peace and quiet. There will be no further comment.”

A spokesman for the Labour party said: “Steven Purcell was a respected leader of Glasgow City Council and represented his ward with great commitment, as well as leading Glasgow’s bid for the Commonwealth Games. “It is clear that he is ill and everyone in Glasgow will no doubt wish him a full recovery. This is no doubt a testing time for his family.”

BBC Scotland revealed on Thursday how psychiatrist Dr Florian Kaplick, who carried out a medical assessment of Purcell during his stay at the Castle Craig rehabilitation clinic near Peebles, said the Labour politician had not been treated for a drug problem having been admitted to the clinic on Sunday. Later that day, he was reported missing to Lothian and Borders Police, and was found after a search.

It is understood that before Purcell resigned as council leader, officials at Glasgow City Council had been planning to say his resignation was to allow him to deal with “chemical dependency” issues. But the planned statement was never released, and a spokesman for Purcell subsequently insisted the chemical dependency claims were without foundation.

Purcell’s legal team has also reported the local authority to information watchdogs over allegations that someone at Glasgow City Council breached the Data Protection Act by leaking details about Mr Purcell’s health to a newspaper.

The lawyers have also complained to the Press Complaints Commission about what they claim is the media’s “harassment of a sick man”.(BBC news)

Afternote: What a load of twaddle. Watson and Levy & McRae were evidently not at all amused that Jack Irvine (Purcell’s spokesman)  had released the correct information about Purcell.

 

 

 

 

6 Mar 2010: Spectacular fall of Stephen Purcell shocks Scotland’s political world

Glasgow’s Hilton Hotel two Thursdays ago was playing host to a fundraising event for Labour and the roll-call of the party nomenclature had been taken. There were very few absentees. Labour’s hegemony remains absolute in the west of Scotland and familiar figures from business, entertainment, leisure, sport and the media were all present and correct. It should have been a relaxing occasion for Stephen Purcell, the city’s young council leader.

A youthful and single man, he thrives on these occasions and enjoys the company of those who direct the social and business life of his beloved city. In normal circumstances he would have been basking in the acclaim of a party which had come to acknowledge him as a genuine contender for future first minister and who had watched in admiration at some adroit recent manoeuvring on the national stage.

On that evening though, observers encountered him in a subdued mood and he left earlier than would normally have been expected. It was the last time most of them would see of him again for the foreseeable future. Within four days, he had resigned as council leader. Last Friday he announced that he was withdrawing from all political activity and would no longer be representing his constituents in Blairdardie in the west of the city.

The events of the 72 hours that elapsed between his departure from the Hilton and his resignation have attracted fevered speculation. Glasgow’s citizens normally need no encouragement to turn into forensic scientists, political analysts and private detectives and last week it seemed that most of them had a theory about the most spectacular downfall in modern Scottish politics. A senior political media observer told me: “I’ve heard more theories about this than on Lord Lucan’s disappearance and the kidnapping of Shergar.”

What seems clear though, is that Purcell has suffered a major breakdown. The suddenness of his collapse means that the speculation about its causes will continue for some time. He himself will not be making any comments about it. He is currently believed to be with relatives in Donegal and is not expected back in his native city any time soon.

The first ripples of the tsunami that has now engulfed Glasgow’s Labour party began to appear last Friday. Purcell abruptly cancelled two public engagements scheduled for that day at very short notice. Within hours a group of his closest council allies and advisers, who had become alarmed at his tone in telephone conversations, began to envisage a worst-case scenario. They visited him at his home in Broomhill and found their friend in a fragile and vulnerable state.

They quickly devised a damage-limitation strategy designed to leave a door open for him to resume his political career at a future date. For what was painfully clear to all of them was that he was in no fit state to operate as leader of a £10bn local authority. Crucially, they drafted a statement that would have made mention of “a chemical dependency”. They felt that a sympathetic and sophisticated electorate, already well-disposed towards this charismatic young leader, would cut him the slack to retreat from public life for a while and then hand him an opportunity to resume it in the near future.

But another group of people were equally concerned with Purcell’s state: his family. They were with him throughout last weekend and were alarmed at the prospect of him being induced to sign off a statement about his health while clearly being in a reduced state of mind and under heavy sedation. One source very close to the Purcell family said last Thursday morning: “Stephen’s brother was not happy with what the council press office was proposing and persuaded Stephen to give him power of attorney over all his affairs. He decided to seek immediate advice from the family lawyer, Peter Watson.”

It was a fateful but entirely understandable position for the family to take. The Purcells felt that the wording being proposed by the council press chiefs would immediately give rise to speculation about illegal substance abuse when, according to the same source, “the problem was that Stephen had formed a Valium dependency as he struggled to cope with the huge demands of running a local authority with a budget of £10bn”.

Watson is one of the two top media lawyers in Scotland and has close links to one of the country’s most prominent media management firms run by Jack Irvine, a former editor of the Sun in Scotland, and with a formidable track record in successfully managing bad news.

Purcell had also made an SOS call to a friend who was prominent in the Scottish business community, who also advised him to seek independent press and legal representation. Purcell’s closest council confidantes were aghast. They believed Irvine to be a Tory party supporter and had always viewed him with suspicion after he had played a prominent role 10 years ago in the campaign to keep the controversial Section 28 law that forbade discussion of homosexuality in Scottish schools. They were also understandably anxious that to have Irvine handle the media firestorm was to invite all sorts of speculation about what had contributed to the council leader’s breakdown. As one source put it: “I’m not saying we could have killed the story, but we could have disclosed it in a more orderly fashion.”

Last Monday night a handful of journalists began taking calls saying that Purcell had resigned. At a full meeting of the Labour group the following day, the resignation was formally announced. Later the same day Colin Edgar, the council’s communications chief, hosted a press conference. It was clear that Edgar, a close friend and political ally of Purcell, had slept very little in the previous 48 hours. He also announced that Purcell’s legal team had silenced the press department by threatening action against any council officers found to have commented on the medical condition of their former leader. In effect, Edgar, a highly regarded media handler, had been cut out of the loop by his old friend.

Nevertheless, reaction was universally sympathetic. Even Alex Salmond, the first minister, who had become embroiled in a bitter war of words with Purcell over the cancelling of funding for the Glasgow Airport rail link, spoke warmly of his abilities.

On the streets and in the wine bars adjacent to the city chambers the suggested reasons for Purcell’s resignation were growing ever more lurid. There was said to be video footage showing him in a compromising situation and that he had been blackmailed. Most of this though, had its origin in old-fashioned homophobia. Purcell, as a young, single, gay man, was a full participant in the Glasgow social scene. Indeed most Fridays he hosted an informal “lunch club” attended by prominent business and media figures. Among his closest circle of friends were restaurateurs, publicans, journalists and businessmen. Among the old guard on the council however, he was regarded as an over-confident gilded popinjay who had destroyed their influence and replaced them with a coterie of sharp-suited, modernising activists cast in their leader’s mould. Some were only too happy to whisper innuendo about his private life.

In the middle of the week, Purcell’s media advisers were forced to confirm that he had received treatment for a few days at Castle Craig, a private facility in the Borders specialising in drug and alcohol dependency. The following day however, they produced a letter from a psychiatrist at Castle Craig saying that Purcell was not being treated for any chemical dependency. The story was now running out of control.

The Scotsman subsequently revealed the contents of the council’s original preferred statement that talked of a chemical dependency. Watson responded with a complaint that this was a breach of the data protection act. Even before Purcell formally announced his complete withdrawal from public life his closest friends knew that his career was finished for the foreseeable future.

It was at around 5pm in the tearooms of Glasgow city chambers on Friday and a group of Purcell’s closest council colleagues had gathered to review the fallout for what one of them said was “the worst week of my political life”. Each of them revealed, in turn, what it was that had attracted them to politics and public life. “It was good to remind ourselves that the fight for social justice and against poverty goes on. And that the most important thing for Stephen Purcell is that he regains his full health.” Others though, while wishing the former leader a full recovery, nonetheless feel that the voting public needed to be given full disclosure of what led to his breakdown.  (The Guardian)

After-note: Too many cooks spoil the broth. Differing opinions as to the most appropriate strategy (applicable in the extraordinary crisis) resulted in conflicting press statements which added to the confusion surrounding Purcell’s resignation. But Watson eventually took control of the matter confirming his role as Mr Fixit

 

 

 

 

8 Mar 2010: Labour’s opponents last night demanded a major investigation of disgraced Steven Purcell’s reign at Glasgow City Council.

Reports revealed Purcell had confessed to using cocaine after police warned him he was the target of a gangland blackmail plot. And the SNP claimed watchdogs should be called in to probe whether the scandal “had any impact on public policy in the city”. It was also revealed that Purcell, ended up in a river last month after walking out of a drink and drug rehab clinic. Friends fear it was a suicide attempt. Scottish Labour yesterday brutally disowned Purcell, once their party’s rising star, by insisting he was no more than a “brand” for Glasgow and took few big decisions in his five years as council leader.

But Labour’s political enemies, who were quick to give Purcell their sympathy last week, switched to the attack. Glasgow East MP John Mason of the SNP said: “The whole thing stinks. We need answers. “In relation to the visit of senior police officers to Purcell, we need to know who are the people suggested as having applied pressure to him in terms of possible blackmail threats. “And crucially, has this had any impact on public policy in the city of Glasgow? “Given the massive budgets managed by the council, there is a clear case for Audit Scotland carrying out a thorough investigation in light of the events of recent days. “The people of Glasgow, and Scotland as a whole, deserve to know the full facts.” Audit Scotland’s website says their job is “to make sure organisations that spend public money in Scotland use it properly, efficiently and effectively”.

Purcell, resigned as council leader last Tuesday, blaming “stress” and a breakdown suffered the previous weekend. He quit politics altogether last Friday and is now in hiding overseas. As Purcell was “resting and recuperating” in his bolthole, a slew of damaging revelations about his conduct emerged.

In May last year, Purcell was visited in his offices at Glasgow City Chambers by two senior officers from the elite Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency. The cops warned him that he was at risk of blackmail, and said a cocaine dealer had claimed to have incriminating mobile phone footage of him which could destroy his career. Purcell told the officers he was unaware of any blackmail plot and the police considered the matter closed as far as he was concerned. After the meeting, Purcell admitted to friends that he had “dabbled” with cocaine, although he said he no longer took the drug. Soon afterwards, he moved from Glasgow’s Yoker district, where he had lived all his life, to a new flat in the more upmarket area of Broomhill. It is believed he wanted to distance himself from a drug dealer who lived in Yoker.

Purcell rented the Broomhill flat from Katrina Scott Moore, the ex-partner of his friend Brian Dempsey, a major Labour donor and former director of Celtic. The Record revealed last week that an early draft of Purcell’s resignation statement referred to “drink” and “drugs”. It was vetoed on the advice of his lawyer, Peter Watson.

Purcell booked himself into the Castle Craig rehab clinic in Peeblesshire before his resignation announcement and spent three days receiving treatment there. He went missing from the clinic on February 28 and returned soaking wet, having been in the nearby Lyne Water.

It also emerged yesterday. that Purcell’s council-issue mobile phone was disconnected after it was used to make a string of abusive calls to the help desk at providers Vodafone.

Purcell’s media advisers, hired just before he quit, have denied claims that the council had planned to cite “a chemical dependency” as the reason for his resignation. They refused to answer questions yesterday. on his whereabouts.

Another major Labour donor, multimillionaire businessman Willie Haughey, denied that he had offered Purcell the use of a home he owns in Australia. Purcell has relatives in Australia. Other reports claimed he had fled to Florida, where he spent New Year, or to Ireland, where he has family.

He earned £60k as council leader, but it’s believed his sole income now comes from two flats he owns and rents out in Yoker. He has a combined £218k mortgage on the flats. One, in Bulldale Place, was bought for £120k in 2007. The second, bought six months later for £130k, is in nearby Greenlaw Court.

Publicly, Labour politicians voiced sympathy for Purcell’s “personal tragedy”. But behind the scenes, the party were preparing to write him out of history. In a devastating attack, one senior Labour council source said Purcell “did not actually take decisions” at the City Chambers. The insider added: “There is an executive committee to take decisions. He was leader of the Labour group. “He did not run the council single-handedly. That was a media myth – one we played up to because he was a good brand for us. “There were lots of people in the council coming up with proposals and making decisions. The council is still just as capable as it was. “The council is no longer talking about former councillor Purcell. We are back to the business of running the city council.”

A spokesman for the £2.5billion-per-year council denied that the smooth running of the city was affected by Purcell’s problems. And Labour furiously rejected claims by John Mason that Purcell was prevented from standing as a by-election candidate in Glasgow East in 2008 because of fears over his health. A spokesman called the claim “baseless and false”.(Daily Record)

Afternote: The press fightback against Peter Watson coupled with the Labour Party dismissal of Purcell as a lightweight who exercised little authority in the council. But the “dogs of war” smell blood

 

 

 

 

15 Mar 2010: Purcell’s Pet Quango Faces Inquiry over [Pounds Sterling]1.5m Wages

A Construction quango created by troubled ex-council leader Steven Purcell more than doubled its wage bill for senior managers in two years, it was revealed yesterday. Glasgow City Building recruited so many senior employees that the executive wage bill rose to £1.5million last year, despite the worst construction downturn for decades. It has also emerged the arms-length Glasgow City Council body paid £2k for a table at a Labour Party fundraiser even though it is frowned upon for public bodies to make contributions to political parties. The revelations cast further doubt on the stewardship of the disgraced Glasgow City Council leader Steven Purcell – who privatised the council’s buildings division to create “City Building” in a blaze of publicity in 2006. (Highbeam)

After note: “What a cracker.” Purcell formed a strategy designed to bring about a massive reduction in the council’s annual expenditure. He set about achieving his aim by dismissing large numbers of staff from the council, transferring their employment to newly created private companies operating at arm’s length from the council. The companies were awarded long term service contracts with the council (appropriate to their area of speciality) guaranteeing their future. Workers rights would be protected so that their would be no detriment to their conditions of employment.

Female staff (mainly part-time) soon discovered the reality of their situation when they were denied equal pay by the new arm’s length organisation’s. The saga of the short pay lasted many years and is not yet full resolved.

Senior managers of the newly created arm’s length organisations were appointed by the council. They were each awarded commercial rate salaries (£100 – £150k) per annum together with pension rights applicable to their grade. Not that long after the change a number of senior managers retired taking huge retirement packages, which could not be justified. The press attacked council inefficiency and their reports suggested the packages amounted to fraud.

John Swinney SNP Treasurer at Holyrood moved fast, closed the loophole and brought to an end the practice of city councillors taking up employment with the arm’s length organisations. But  damage had been done. A number of former councillors/senior managers retired with obscenely high lump sums and pensions. Nice one Purcell.

 

 

 

 

29 Mar 2010: The former leader of Glasgow City Council has admitted using cocaine and told of how this may have left him open to blackmail.

Purcell told The Scottish Sun newspaper that he had taken drugs a “handful” of times. He also said police warned that there could be video footage of him using drugs which might be used for blackmail. He told the newspaper he had used cocaine on several occasions after being first offered it at a party.and blamed his own “stupidity” for his decision to take the Class A drug and explained how it eventually led to a visit from police.

He told the paper: “Two officers from the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency came along. “They told me that during the course of an investigation they came across information that could mean I would be subject to blackmail because of the use of cocaine. “They said there might be a video of me using cocaine and that could be used to blackmail me. “The last time I used it was a year ago, a few weeks before the police came to see me. I told close colleagues at the council about it because I think it’s important to be honest.”

Following his resignation, there were calls for Strathclyde Police and the public spending watchdog, Audit Scotland, to investigate allegations about how council contracts were awarded under Mr Purcell’s leadership. But both bodies advised last week that they would not be proceeding with any investigation.’

Justice Secretary Kenny Macaskill said that while there were questions to be answered surrounding Mr Purcell’s departure, he could not launch an inquiry. “These are operational matters, whether it’s for Audit Scotland, whether its for the police,” he said. “It’s for other organisations to take steps to make sure that questions are answered and we can be satisfied in the great city of Glasgow that situation is as it should be.” The Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency (SCDEA) said it was unable to comment specifically on any contact it may have had with Mr Purcell.

Deputy Chief Constable Gordon Meldrum, director general of the organisation, said: “As we have made clear on a number of occasions over recent weeks, the SCDEA has a long-standing policy of not confirming the details of any individuals who they may have had contact with in carrying out their day-to-day work to disrupt and dismantle serious organised crime. “Serious organised crime groups also thrive on information. The less they know about the ‘who, what, where, and why’ of our approach, the less chance they have of changing their tactics to evade our grasp.”  (BBC News)

After-note: Pressure was applied to responsible authorities requesting the investigation of the business affairs of Glasgow City Council, including a full financial audit responding to many rumours of financial wrongdoing.

 

 

 

 

 

29 Mar 2010: Steven Purcell – disgraced former leader of Glasgow council admits to using cocaine

Purcell, shocked Glasgow and his party by resigning suddenly as council leader earlier this month. His departure sparked a surge of allegations about his links to wealthy party backers and their lucrative civic contracts, and claims of a cover-up of his drugs misuse, seriously undermining Labour’s pre-general election planning and its attempts to retake the Glasgow East Westminster seat from the Scottish National party. In a desperate attempt to kill off the controversy the Prime Minister, Gordon Brown publicly praised Purcell. He advised the press that Purcell’s resignation was “a personal sadness, a tragedy” and urged voters to focus on the city’s future and its successful regeneration.

Purcell denied showing any favouritism to Labour funders in awarding council contracts, with particular reference to Willie Haughey, an influential businessman and council contractor. “I make absolutely no apology for our reputation as an administration that is business friendly,” he said. “I have never once seen a hint of corruption. Regulations are tougher than people think. Everything is audited and legal.”

Strathclyde police and the Scottish public spending authority Audit Scotland last week rejected SNP demands for an inquiry into Purcell’s conduct and council contracts, but Mason insisted the police think again. He said: “His admission not only that he used cocaine but had a very real fear that gangsters had a video of him and could blackmail him goes beyond the individual and brings in questions of propriety in the council that are of genuine concern to my constituents. Continuing concerns in the newspapers over council contracts, connections to city businessmen and now gangsters are legitimate points that should be investigated. Councillor Purcell’s resignation has simply exposed the cracks in Labour’s façade.The questions facing the Labour administration go well beyond Steven Purcell’s personal situation.”

SNP councillors submitted a motion on 1 Apr 2010 to the council asking for an independent investigation into “the practices and recent decisions of the council” It failed to win enough support. A  counter amendment by the Labour dominated council backed a motion saying there was no need for an enquiry.  (BBC News)

After-note: The entire Scottish system of controls closed ranks and prevented any enquiry of Glasgow City Council. A disgraceful event which succeeded only in adding to the public distrust of the Unionist party’s in Scotland. Why was Purcell not investigated in a public setting. Might be he knows too much

 

 

 

 

 

4 Apr 2010: Former council chief Steven Purcell’s cocaine party with dealers

Shamed council leader Steven Purcell was targeted by cocaine dealers in a pub run by Kelly Bryce, (the sister of thug security boss Jamie Bryce.) Their dad is convicted drug dealer James Bryce, once sentenced to 10 years in jail for dealing cocaine and cannabis. The late-night party with the dealer took place at Purcell’s flat weeks before the Scottish Crime and Drugs Enforcement Agency began a probe into the extortion threat. Officers from the agency told him he could be the target of a drug blackmail plot last May. Assistant Chief Constable Johnny Gwynne and Detective Chief Superintendent Allan Moffat, head of crime support at the agency, told him a dealer claimed to have mobile phone footage of him snorting cocaine.

Purcell’s partying with dealers in his own home emerged when a gangland source said: “Purcell walked into trouble. He was in way over his head. He invited two dealers into his flat for a party. The SCDEA were all over the dealer. He had got to know Purcell in The Boundary Bar and basically saw his potential. The dealer told the plain-clothes guys he and his mate had footage of Purcell snorting coke on a mobile. he said: “Purcell was so out of it he didn’t know what was going on. He was drunk and high.” Detectives couldn’t believe what they were hearing but the guy was able to give them chapter and verse. A Yoker local added: “It was well-known among a small group of people for months before Purcell quit.”

Jamie Bryce, was part of a gang including boxing tycoon Barry Hughes, who were convicted of assaulting a clubber with a metal pole.He was ordered to carry out 150 hours’ community service. At one time, Bryce was head of Thor Security, lived in a penthouse and drove a £100k Mercedes, (despite his firm providing protection for just one site.) He frequented The Boundary Bar). Bryce and Hughes visited Scotland’s biggest drug dealer, Jamie “The Iceman” Stevenson, in jail.

Last week, Glasgow city councillors ruled out an independent inquiry into the Purcell scandal. (Sunday Mail)

After-note: It appears convicted criminal and drug dealer, Jamie Bryce might have had Purcell in his sights. Purcell’s choices are most definitely suspect. And the Council rejected an inquiry??

 

 

 

 

 

3 Jul 2010: Ex gangster Paul Ferris sensationally linked to the Gay and Lesbian drop-in centre at the heart of the Steven Purcell drugs and corruption probe.

Police and council chiefs are investigating claims that Purcell helped councillor Ruth Black get £50,000 of public cash to run The Castro venue in Glasgow. Black and McDougall were good friends with Purcell and socialised with him in the months before he stood down in March this year

Paisley-born McDougall, (who is well known to police and has spent several spells on remand) is a friend of convicted gun-runner Ferris and is the step-sister of former Glasgow drug baron Stewart “Specky” Boyd, who was killed in a car crash in Spain seven years ago.

Black and McDougall, who live together, are being probed as part of a wide-ranging police investigation into Purcell. Black has already been quizzed by cops over claims that she sold “speed” – amphetamine – at Glasgow City Chambers but strenuously denies the allegations.

The police probe into Purcell is looking into allegations about both drugs and cronyism. These include claims that Purcell used undue influence to help Black win the right to run The Castro over a rival bidder. A council spokesman warned that, despite only opening in spring, the centre could be closed within days because of a series of “financial irregularities” flagged up by whistle-blowers.

Both police and the council – who are carrying out parallel inquiries – have been alerted to Ferris visiting The Castro, in the Merchant City area of Glasgow. Ferris was there twice in recent weeks, speaking to his pal Jeanie McDougall and her girlfriend councillor Ruth Black, the boss of the centre – which is now the focus of a probe into alleged financial irregularities.

A source said: “To say there are concerns about Ferris wandering in and out of a publicly-funded organisation is an understatement.” An insider at The Castro said: “Ferris passed me on the stairs one day wearing a hat and I thought to myself he looked right dodgy. The last time I saw him he came in and then Jeanie and Ruth disappeared with him into the office.”

Yesterday, Black insisted Ferris was at The Castro to speak to McDougall about setting up a charity scheme. She said: “Jeanie has been discussing setting up a project with Paul to prevent re offending. It’s something they both have a passion for. “They go back a long way – about 20 years. His visits have been to do with an organisation down south called Unlock, who Paul Ferris has spoken to.” ( Daily Record)

After-note: Is there no end to it?

 

 

 

 

 

13 Aug 2010: Council chiefs have handed police a dossier about a gay drop-in centre run by two pals of Steven Purcell.

Officials at Glasgow City Council, called in the police after investigating “financial irregularities” at The Castro centre. The council, who own the centre, have also begun the process of evicting its boss, councillor Ruth Black, and her lover Jeanie McDougall, who ran the venue’s Noise cafe-bar. It’s understood the council probe revealed serious problems, including tax and national insurance being taken from staff wages but not paid, and Black’s son being employed in breach of council grant rules. The centre is said to have run without proper insurance, there were reports of “irregularities” over fruit machines, and it’s believed part of a public grant was used to pay for a car. Insiders say the council hope to have Black and McDougall evicted within three weeks.

Police are already probing claims that Purcell, who quit days before it emerged he had taken cocaine, helped Black get £50,000 of public money to open the centre. Black was suspended by the Labour Party after alleged financial irregularities at The Castro first emerged. Police said an investigation was ongoing. (Daily Record)

 

19 Jul 2010: The Funny Old World of the West of Scotland

Steven Purcell, who quit as leader of Glasgow City Council citing exhaustion, has been brought onboard by the Stewart & McKenna Foundation, which works on humanitarian projects around the world. Stephen McKenna and Allan Stewart, who state that they founded their property group in 2004, said they hoped to give Purcell a second chance after reading he wanted to become involved in charity work. McKenna said “Steven made a mistake and he understands that.I think it’s fantastic that he will be working with us. He’s said he wanted to work on Scottish projects. It will be great for our foundation, for Steven, and for Scotland.”

But Stewart & McKenna should be called the Bulloch and McKenna Foundation. Allan Stewart, a partner in housebuilders Stewart and McKenna, was banned from acting as a company director for 7 years in the 1990s and twice declared bankrupt. Born Allan Stewart Bulloch, the 53 year old rebuilt his career under a new name. He says he dropped his original surname because of a speech impediment and that there had been no attempt to mislead people. He also dropped it from the electoral roll and official records at Companies House.

In the 80s Allan Stewart (then Bulloch) was a director of Grampian Glazing which was subject to numerous court actions. In 1984, Everest Double Glazing banned it from ‘passing off’ windows and doors by using a logo with a ‘striking resemblance’ to its own. The next year two creditors served warrants on the firm to freeze it’s assets after it failed to pay for £32k of goods. In 1986 Grampian, Bulloch and his partner Graham Gracie, were sequestrated (the Scots term for bankruptcy). The firm owed 55 creditors £160k, equivalent to £350k today. Both men had to sell their homes but their creditors still lost every penny.

In 1990 both Bulloch and his wife Margaret were banned from serving as company directors after being judged “unfit to be concerned in the management of a company”. Bulloch was disqualified for seven years, his wife for five. Just two years later Bulloch was sequestrated again after problems with a new window business. If he was disqualified, how did he manage to set up another business? It would appear Mr Bulloch’s speech impediment occurred in the late 1990s when he stopped using the surname Bulloch.

In 2006 Glasgow City Council, under the leadership of Steven Purcell, agreed to pay Stewart and McKenna’s £1.7m for land for the 2014 Common Wealth Games – £350k more than the company paid for it only a year earlier. After the council backed the deal Stewart & McKenna donated £9.1k to the Labour party. According to the Electoral Commission, the pair made no donations before the land sale. After his resignation, links emerged between Purcell and a number of Labour Party donors, some of whose firms had benefited from council deals.

It  has also been revealed that Purcell helped tee-up meetings between the developers’ lawyer and council chief executive George Black in 2009. He also asked senior officials to examine several of the men’s business ideas.

In January 2010 HMRC took Stewart and McKenna Ltd to court over an unpaid tax bill of £78k and the company was would up in May. There are twelve other companies still registered as active. a number of which are being investigated as part of the £600 million Ponzie scheme inquiry.

Funny how Stewart developed a speech impediment late in life, so serious as to prevent him from saying Bulloch. Fortunately it would appear he has no problem with Stewart. Aye, it’s a funny old world the West of Scotland, particularly where labour donors are concerned. (Subrosa-blonde. blogspot)

After-note: The McKenna & Stewart link is significant. They are linked to the £600million ponzie scheme still under investigation by the Scottish police fraud squad

 

 
1 Aug 2010: Stewart & McKenna firm goes bust owing £78k

A firm run by two millionaire property developers has gone bust – owing the taxman £78k. Stewart and McKenna’s empire once boasted a turnover of £134million a year. But last week insolvency experts Buchanan Roxburgh were appointed as the liquidators. The duo, whose HQ is in Cambuslang, near Glasgow, have formed more than 20 firms. In an interview in 2007, the partners claimed they had made £134million the previous year after selling 14,000 flats worldwide.  (Daily Record)

After-note: Well Well Well. The chickens have come home to roost

 

 

 

 

 

19 Dec 2010: Shamed Purcell arranged a thank-you Christmas party for his friends and supporters at an exclusive hotel.

The disgraced politician hosted around 30 guests at the Grand Central hotel in Glasgow on Friday night. But there was no sign of the A-listers from politics and business who Purcell used to rub shoulders with before being forced to quit his job in April after being quizzed by police over his cocaine use.

One guest said: “Steven is a great host. There was plenty of drink to go around. It was a great party and everyone was very merry. It has been a tough year for him so I think he just wanted to get everyone together and wish them all a merry Christmas and thank them for their support.”

But another onlooker said: “The guest list wasn’t what Steven was once used to. “There were a few people there who would not have been allowed an appointment with him when he was in power. Never mind A-list, they wouldn’t make the Z -list.” (Daily Record)

After-note: He doesn’t work so where did the money come from and the Grand Central isn’t cheap

 

13 Mar 2011: One year on, why no charges in Purcell probe?

Twelve months have passed since Purcell’s spectacular fall from grace at Glasgow City Council. Last March, Strathclyde’s Major Crimes and Terrorism Investigation Unit said it was probing “allegations of drug taking” and “other matters” concerning 38-year-old Purcell, thought to centre on the awarding of contracts from the council’s £2.4billion budget. However, the inquiry is still said to be “ongoing” with no likelihood of any imminent charges, prompting suggestions last night that Labour officials were obstructing the investigation. Some high-placed sources have said they believe the shamed councillor still holds a web of influence across Glasgow. At the time, his connections took in almost every area of the council, which had close links with a number of prominent business leaders.The fall-out surrounding his sudden resignation, however, only led to more questions and allegations of links to gangland figures in the Glasgow underworld.

Purcell went on to spend time in Australia and Ireland, and on his return set up the company Twenty Ten Consultancy and secured a post with the charity Stewart & McKenna Foundation run by two Labour-supporting developers. A council insider told the Scottish Sunday Express: “He’s now toxic in the corridors of power and council members have been warned about associating with him.” Strathclyde Police yesterday said their inquiry is “ongoing”. A spokeswoman added: “There are no reports that anybody has been charged.” (The Express)

After-note: It is evident that his friends in high places are determined to protect him from prosecution. But things might change over time as the electorate pressures politicians and the press for answers. But, at this time his digit finger is well extended to all asunder.

 

 

 

 

 

23 Sep 2011: Cocaine shame ex-council boss Steven Purcell is ‘Happy as Larry’ as corruption police complete probe into his dealings

Shamed politician Steven Purcell has adopted the catchphrase “Happy as Larry” – despite possible corruption charges. Cops yesterday confirmed they have completed a probe into Purcell’s time as leader of Glasgow City Council. A police dossier on Purcell and his cronies has been submitted to the procurator-fiscal to decide whether charges are brought over allegations of corruption and links with gangsters.

It is rumoured he is responsible for a behind-the-scenes battle between factions in Glasgow’s ruling Labour group, who are at risk of being ousted by the SNP in next year’s council elections. And, despite having no permanent job, he has left his working class heartland of Yoker for a swanky city centre pad and is frequently seen boozing and partying in the trendy Merchant City with several councillors who remain loyal to him.His Facebook page confirms his lifestyle showing snaps of him in pubs and on foreign holidays, including Las Vegas.  (Daily Record)

After-note: Purcell appears to be coated in Teflon. The police have done their job but the Fiscal has yet to decide if the case is to be brought before the courts. Delay is the most invidious form of denial

 

17 Jan 2012: Dodgy Land Deals in Dalmarnock

In yet another example of the disgraceful way Glasgow City Council operates, we see Labour Councillors paying off their chums from regeneration budgets while those they have displaced or evicted are ignored. Ronnie Saez, a close friend of Frank McAveety, (Labour MSP, and former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Glasgow East Regeneration Agency), had been made redundant with a £500k settlement   approved by City Councillors Catherine McMaster, George Redmond and James Coleman.

That’s the George Redmond who told housewife Margaret Jaconelli and her family to ‘take it on the chin’ when she was brutally evicted from her home (she has not yet received compensation.) so developers could profit from the Athlete’s Village. And it is the James Coleman who promised users and carers of “The Accord Centre” a brand new purpose built facility, as a legacy of Glasgow 2014 … but then somehow the £200k they were promised isn’t there any-more. Budget cuts, apparently. Fortunately for Ronnie, budget cuts don’t apply to friends, so he’s sitting pretty.

And there’s more, there are other friends of City Councillors who have been cared for:

Graham Duffy, (the failed businessman who attempted to take over Rangers Football Club back in 2009) owned Grantly Developments (Parkhead) who had been holding onto derelict land on Millerfield Road in Dalmarnock since 1988. But when the area was named as the site for the Athlete’s Village, Duffy brokered a £5.5 million deal with the Council for the land – a staggering 12,000% increase in the land value since it’s original purchase.

Allan Stewart and Steve McKenna, Labour party donors, (who operated a number of building companies, one of which went bust in 2010 owing the Inland Revenue, their suppliers and clients  a massive tax bill)  bought property in Dalmarnock in 2006 for £1.6 million, (just over the road from Mrs Jaconelli and her family.) When the Athlete’s Village was announced for the site, the Council paid them £1 for the land, plus a £1.7m amount and ‘gifted’ them another valuable parcel of land around the corner. Oh, and Steven Purcell took a position on their charity foundation, too.

Another deal saw former Rangers owner David Murray’s company paid £5.1m for land it bought for £375,000 a few years before.

Charles Price, (owner of Springfield Properties No. 1 Ltd) bought property along Springfield Road in 2005-2006 for an amount believed to be around £8million, and then sold it back to the Council for £17million in 2008. Council’s payment represented a 409% increase in the value of the land since Price’s 2005 purchase.

Some of these deals, plus others, are now being investigated by Strathclyde Police as reported by the BBC.

the Jaconelli family and local shop owners were forced out of their properties through the brutal use of (CPO’s) Compulsory Purchase Orders. But the draconian powers, (put in place by government to protect the public purse),  were designed to be used only as a last resort after all attempts at finding a solution, including arbitration had been exhausted which was not the case. Disgraceful in the light of other property business conducted by the Council.  (Gamesmonitor2014)

After-note: Ronnie Saez, getting £500k (from a charity) is a disgraceful use of Charitable funds and the sum does not include his pension arrangements. The land deals must be classified as incompetence or fraud. The forced removal of house/shop owners from their properties applying an extremely low settlement offer is an abuse of power.

 

 

 

 

 

20 Jan 2012: No action is to be taken against Steven Purcell

The Crown Office has confirmed that proceedings will not be brought against ex Council Leader Purcell or councillor Ruth Black. Prosecutors said there was “insufficient evidence” of criminality and “no further action is currently appropriate”.

A Crown Office spokesman said: “Strathclyde Police have fully investigated allegations made against Steven Purcell and Ruth Black. “The results of these investigations have been made available to Crown Counsel. “Crown Counsel agree with the conclusion reached by Strathclyde Police, that there is insufficient evidence of criminality at this time and that no further action is currently appropriate.”(BBC News)

After-note: Surely this is not the end. Note the use of the phrase “insufficient evidence of criminality at this time” 

 

 

 

 

 

Feb 2012: Lorne Hotel Fraud

A curry entrepreneur has been accused of stealing £1.46million of taxpayers’ cash after the £7.3million sale of his upmarket hotel and restaurant. Archie Sharif, 43, sold the Lorne Hotel and Bukharah restaurant in Glasgow after his business hit the rocks.But instead of handing over £1.46million in VAT from the sale, he is accused of transferring the cash to a bank in Pakistan. HM Revenue & Customs foiled the alleged fraud days after Sharif travelled to Karachi to try to access the money. Lord Advocate Frank Mulholland then took Sharif to the Court of Session where the judge agreed to freeze the businessman’s assets under proceeds of crime laws. One source said: “Glasgow criminals have been at the epicentre of the VAT fraud crimewave which has cost the UK economy billions of pounds. “It makes a welcome change if the taxman has managed to prevent one from taking place.”

Pakistan-born Sharif bought the A-listed Lorne hotel in Glasgow’s west end in 2007 after it had lain derelict for six years.Bankrolled with £11million from private investors and the Royal Bank of Scotland, he turned it into an upmarket 102-bedroom hotel, Indian restaurant and cocktail bar.At the time, he said: “This is the biggest thing I’ve taken on but I am proud to own this hotel and I want to restore it to its former glory.” Two years ago, he admitted trading conditions were tough but saw the Bukharah named restaurant of the year at the Scottish Curry Awards.Just three months later, HMRC petitioned to wind up Sharif’s trading company Lorne Hotel Glasgow Ltd and a liquidator was appointed.

Sharif later sold the building for £7.3million to Bellshill Ltd, whose director is well-known curry restaurateur Sohan Singh.Singh, has been chosen by Labour as a possible candidate in local elections later this year. He was jailed along with drug dealer Craig McAteer, and another man in 1999 for a £1.6million duty-free tax fraud but Singh’s conviction was overturned on appeal.

The Lorne Hotel and the adjoining restaurant has become a favourite haunt of north Glasgow crime clan head Jamie Daniel and his mob. It was also where the shamed former Labour leader of Glasgow City Council Stephen Purcell, held a party last week. The meal was staged to celebrate the Crown Office’s decision not to prosecute Purcell over alleged corruption and drug use. But Purcell spent the night of the party in a police cell following his arrest after a disturbance at his flat.

Afternote: Purcell rises from his slumber. What company he keeps. Singh is well versed in property deals and other business. I posted an article covering his activities. Well worth a read. The established link between Justin McAlroy, McAteer and Singh is of significance

 

 

Singh, was jailed for six years after being convicted of dodging £1.6 million of tax due on lorry-loads of booze in one ten-week period. The sentence was overturned on a technicality and he spent just 10 months in jail after being convicted along with James Sanderson, who got three years, and Craig McAteer, who got two and a half. They stood trial in 1999 after undercover Customs officers claimed they sold 16 lorry-loads of whisky – meant to be sent abroad duty-free – on the British black market. Customs claimed the staggering haul was enough to give every adult in Scotland two duty-free drinks.

More than 2500 cases of spirits were seized to add to 4400 cases that had been impounded. Officers also found documents showing that at least 15 lorry-loads traced to Scotland had gone overseas. A dozen export forms had false foreign stamps.During his trial, it was revealed that Singh had been a target for some kind of vengeance over a deal which went wrong. In July 1998, while he was on bail, three hooded men walked into his office and systematically clubbed him with baseball bats, breaking both of his legs.

The judge Lord Phillip told Singh: ‘You were in control in Scotland of a carefully-planned and efficiently-run operation designed to defraud the state and you were making huge profits.’ In 2000, Singh was released and when it eventually came to court, in June last year, the Crown told the court that they would not be resisting the appeals. Singh and McAteer walked free.

McAteer, one of Singh’s alleged lieutenants, was the best friend of murdered drug dealer Justin McAlroy, who was shot dead after attending a Labour Party fundraiser at his dad’s club.William ‘Tiler’ Gage was convicted of McAlroy’s execution last year but the man alleged to have paid for the hit has never been caught.

Full report on Councillor Singh here:   https://caltonjock.com/2016/03/05/corruption-graft-nepotism-glasgow-controlled-by-the-labour-party/

 

 

 

 

 

24 Jun 2012: ” Russell Findlay’s searing new book “Caught In The Crossfire lifts the lid on the bitter Glasgow gangland war

Following the death from cancer of his eight-year-old son Garry in 1991, Eddie Lyons was handed the keys to a derelict, council-owned community centre in Milton, which was renamed Chirnsyde Community Initiative. This provided him with a platform to grandstand about drugs ahead of the 1999 election for the first Scottish Parliament. His brass-necked appearance saw him air his views on the evening news apparently confident his true business would never be exposed. His confidence had been bolstered after years of building his respectable community-minded image and duping the police, council officials and politicians into backing his claims to legitimacy. His community centre had been built on taxpayers’ cash and official approval and he believed himself untouchable. He cultivated the support of Strathclyde Police, the Labour Party and Glasgow City Council and he was confident of their backing. And, despite the repeated warnings of campaigners, who were dismissed as “bampots” by officials, backing remained constant until the spiralling violence and crime linked to Lyons and his community centre could no longer be ignored.

Before long, Chirnsyde – Eddie’s Club, as it was known locally – became synonymous with drug dealing and violence as his teenage sons Eddie Jr, Steven and their cronies formed the Club Boys gang. Mums and dads looking for somewhere for their children to play sport and meet friends in safety were appalled that a man like Lyons was being given such official sanction. How, they asked, could a crime clan boss be held up by the police, politicians and council as a role model for children? Incredibly, £1.4million of taxpayers’ money ended up being channelled into Lyons’ den but the money was never properly accounted for.

One resident who demanded answers was dad-of-nine Johnny McLean. He was incensed at a council edict that all local primary school pupils should attend PE lessons at Chirnsyde. McLean was joined by a small but determined group of other brave parents who made a stand. The Lyons responded with petrol bombs and death threats. The authorities responded with bullying tactics and smears. The catalyst for the residents’ campaign was the attempted murder of dad Thomas McDonnell, whose sons had suffered a terror campaign at the hands of the Club Boys. When McDonnell went to Chirnsyde to plead with Lyons to end the violence, he was stabbed by a mob while Lyons himself allegedly shouted “Get the b******!”

Even the investigating CID team raised concerns about Lyons’ police connections. Witness intimidation came after the arrest of Lyons, his two sons Eddie Jr and Steven, brother Johnny and two Club Boys for McDonnell’s attempted murder. Eventually, all the Lyons walked free while just one Club Boy was convicted for the attack on McDonnell, whose family’s pleas for help to the police and Crown Office fell on deaf ears. Their suffering at the hands of the Lyons was matched by the official indifference and incompetence endured by the Milton campaigners.

The council director in charge of Chirnsyde was then First Minister Jack McConnell’s wife Bridget, who refused to take action. Inexplicably, the council did not demand to see enhanced Disclosure Scotland checks into Lyons’ background as a condition for funding. But the residents continued to write thousands of letters in which they raised the awkward but unanswered questions about Lyons, Chirnsyde and children’s safety.

In 2003, the Sunday Mail exposed Lyons under the headline “Would you let this man look after your children?” But still he was allowed to continue and Labour’s refusal to back down handed a council by-election victory to the SNP’s Billy McAllister who vowed that, if elected, he would fight to clear out Chirnsyde and return it to the community.

Meanwhile, Lyons was nurturing big ambitions for his Club Boys as he planned to take on established city mobsters to control the drugs trade. A major organised crime family headed by Jamie Daniel already controlled tracts of the north Glasgow drugs trade and they regarded the Club Boys with derision. The young Daniel gang, including Daniel’s son-in-law Kevin “Gerbil” Carroll, did not take kindly when a stash of their cocaine was stolen and sold on by the Club Boys. The theft sparked 10 years of tit- for-tat violence between the Lyons and Daniels. What began as a dirty fight over control of a multi-million-pound trade in pills and powders soon became personal.

Carroll made several strikes against the Club Boys, who were forced to shop for body armour and retreat from Milton. And the out-of-control gangster (later shot dead in an Asda car park) sparked revulsion when he toppled the gravestone of little Garry Lyons. But self-styled community leader Lyons still clung on to Chirnsyde. Only when the Daniel mob sent two hit-men to commit a triple shooting at the Lyons-owned Applerow garage were the council forced to act. The bloodbath, which claimed the life of 21-year-old Michael Lyons, finally saw Lyons evicted from Chirnsyde. After six years, the Milton campaigners were exonerated and hailed for their bravery in a Scottish Parliament debate.

As Glasgow City Council tried to justify their inexplicable refusal to move against Lyons, leisure director Bridget McConnell’s allies pointed the finger at an unnamed “senior councillor” for opposing attempts to evict the gang boss. That councillor was later revealed as Steven Purcell, the then council leader, who resigned after admitting taking cocaine. The revelation that he protected Lyons at Chirnsyde should spark fresh concerns that a man in control of a £2billion-a-year budget could have been compromised by serious and organised criminals.

 

The Lyons and Daniel Family feud

A self-styled community leader and busy-body, Eddie Lyons was a Mr Fix-It with his fingers in many pies. His was skilled at picking up snippets of information and his pirate video rental sideline gave him perfect cover as he kept his ear to the ground. Lyons spoke to police constable John Cameron so often that he was nicknamed The Special Constable.
Drinkers in Milton pubs would balance an empty pint glass on their head to deliver a mocking impression of Lyons by pretending it was a police blue light and many are certain that he was a registered police informant. Whatever the roots of the special relationship between Lyons and the police, it would have been unremarkable were it not for what followed his son’s funeral when there was a reservoir of sympathy for him. That was when Lyons took his first step towards legitimacy (with the backing of Strathclyde Police and funded by taxpayers’ cash.) He was given the keys to Chirnsyde. Maryhill MSP Patricia Ferguson knows the importance of being seen to be tough on crime (and getting her picture in papers.) That was why she pounded the streets for three hours one evening with PC John Cameron (the chairman of Lyons’ community centre.) Their first port of call was Chirnsyde. Not only did Lyons have Cameron as chairman and Councillor Ellen Hurcombe as a staunch defender but now the area’s new Labour MSP had given her seal of approval.

 

Ferguson later wrote a friendly letter to Lyons addressed “Dear Eddie”. Meanwhile, PC Cameron and other community officers were using a room at Chirnsyde as a base. As the Lyons crime family’s drugs laid waste to the local community, police were using the gang headquarters as an unofficial office. In the cold glow of the moon, the name of Garry Lyons was etched on the black headstone along with the inscription: “To the wee tough guy. Love you forever.” It was where he had rested in peace for 15 years. In the darkness, Kevin “Gerbil” Carroll and two other men looped a rope attached to their four-wheel-drive’s tow bar, over the large headstone. The vehicle’s engine revved, the rope went taut and the stone crashed down as the surrounding grass at Cadder Cemetery in Bishopbriggs was churned to mud. It was the early hours of November 6, 2006. The next morning, the Lyons family were due to visit the grave on what would have been Garry’s 23rd birthday. It was a desecration (and a very public declaration of the war that had been fought on the streets of north Glasgow for four years.)
Since 2002, the Daniel clan (led by mob boss Jamie) had attempted to drive the Lyons out of business as they muscled in on the street drugs trade. There had been car chases when the Lyons’ cars were rammed in high-speed pursuits through residential streets. On at least one occasion, Eddie Sr was targeted for bumper-to-bumper contact as he drove the Chirnsyde minibus. On January 12, 2003, Carroll was gunned down outside his mother’s home in Mingulay Street, Milton. He was the first shooting victim in the drugs war. He was 22 and lived in Drumchapel, on the western edge of Glasgow. On the day of the shooting, he had left his mum’s house with his Staffordshire bull terrier. As he put the dog into his friend’s car, a gunman sprang from the garden and chased after him before blasting him twice in the leg with a sawn-off shotgun. Carroll refused to co-operate with detectives ­probing the shooting. Nonetheless, ­inquiries led to the arrest of an 18-year-old suspect, Stephen Burgess. During Burgess’s trial, which quickly collapsed, Carroll told the High Court in Glasgow: “I was lying on the ground and the gunman was standing over me. “He ran away when my mum came running out. “My leg was hanging off. It must have been mistaken identity.”

Just 11 days later, Eddie Lyons’s brother Johnny was gunned down outside his home in Stornoway Street, a stone’s throw from Mingulay Street. two gunmen (one of them Carroll) pounced just as Johnny approached his house. Bizarrely, Johnny spoke to the press, even posing for photographs showing his wounds and the damage to his front door. Johnny said: “I’m not the nicest guy ever to walk the streets but my criminal days are behind me. “The wallet in my back pocket caught around 40 pellets and the doctors think that may have saved me.” It was thought that his brother, having enjoyed good publicity as the face of Chirnsyde, had urged Johnny to go public in a bid to dampen interest in his supposedly community-minded family.

 

Despite the increasing reports of crime and violence linked to the Lyons, Eddie was still allowed to run his community centre with the tacit approval of the elected representatives. Taxpayers funding his crime clan’s headquarters didn’t have a say in it. And so the chases, stabbings and shootings continued, until Carroll’s graveyard atrocity. He had crossed a line but was still not satisfied. Two days later, at 6.30pm on November 8, he struck again. A dealer in Bellshill, Lanarkshire, owed the Lyons money and Eddie Jr and another Club Boy were going to collect. The pair, both wearing body armour, drove slowly into the town’s Myers Court where the debtor lived. As Lyons stepped from his black BMW X5, Carroll popped up from behind a row of wheelie bins and dashed towards the car, gun drawn. Lyons tried to jump into the car but it started to roll forwards before he was inside, causing him minor injuries. His henchman was hit with at least one round but survived.

 

The Lyons, like many in gangland Glasgow, realised Carroll was veering out of control and, if they did not do something about him, he would eventually kill one of them. Eight days later Carroll and Ross Sherlock, 25, drove into Clelland Avenue, a residential street in Bishopbriggs, for a meeting with Craig “Rob Roy” Gallagher. At around 9.55pm, two cars which had been circling nearby swung into the street. A gunman emerged from one of the vehicles and started firing. Residents reported the sound of at least four shots in rapid succession. The target was Carroll, who suffered serious injuries as he was blasted in the stomach from close range. Sherlock was hit in the legs. Yet again, the police knew everything but could prove nothing. Carroll would be shot again and the final assault on his life would not fail. His death in a hail of 13 bullets after he was lured to an ambush at an Asda superstore in January 2010 shocked Scotland. But a massive investigation ended in tatters as the only man charged over Carroll’s murder walked free. The Daniels once laughed at the Lyons but after 10 years of stabbings and shootings, they were not laughing now.

 

It was December 6, 2006, and hitmen Raymond Anderson and James McDonald had been busy Christmas shopping. Two pistols with ammo, acquired via their Daniel paymasters from soldiers of the Royal Regiment of Scotland’s Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders. Unregistered, pay-as-you-go mobile phones from St Enoch shopping mall in Glasgow. And two “old man” masks and wigs from Tam Shepherd’s famous joke shop in Queen Street. Kevin Carroll had just got out of hospital after taking a bullet from the Lyons. He was not fit to wreak revenge. So he contracted the job.

The Lyons gang (and brutal ally Robert Pickett) had been crowing since the shooting of Carroll in Bishopbriggs. They often met on the forecourt of Applerow Motors, an MOT station run by Eddie’s brother David Lyons in Lambhill. Anderson and McDonald were driving on the M8 towards the garage when they received a call from Anderson’s son, also Raymond, at 2.10pm. The hit was on. At 2.12 pm, Anderson and McDonald pulled up at Applerow. Wearing long, dark trench coats, the hitmen ( later jailed for 35 years) slid on their masks and pulled their guns. Michael Lyons Jr ( a nephew of Eddie Sr) was at the garage to fill the water tank for his mobile car wash business.

It was a typical day in the busy MOT station, tinny music blared from a radio over the clatter of metal and shouted banter. David saw the gunmen first and shouted a warning to his family members. Michael Jr began to run but a British Army bullet cut him down in mid flight, killing him instantly. David ran towards his nephew but quickly realised that, unless he wanted to be next, he should take cover. Moments before the gunmen had walked in, Steven Lyons and Robert Pickett had driven into the small yard in a Ford Focus. They (not Michael Jr) were the real targets. Just as David shouted his warning, Steven had glanced in the Ford’s rear-view mirror and seen the two men (their faces hidden by the grotesque latex masks) walking quickly towards the back of the stationary car. Steven brought his foot down hard on the accelerator as a shot blew out the Ford’s back window. In the confines of the yard, he had nowhere to go. He scrambled from the vehicle and attempted to seek refuge inside the garage but one of the gunmen picked him off with a round as he ran for cover. By 2.15 pm, it was over. But the drugs war, waged by Jamie Daniel in the 1990s would come back to haunt him more than a decade later.

Daniel had become the enemy of a criminal gang led by Stewart “Specky” Boyd which included Robert “Piggy” Pickett, George “Goofy” Docherty and Stewart Gillespie. Boyd’s gang was linked to FCB Enterprise (Security) Ltd, a firm set up with almost £200,000 of taxpayers’ money. They were feuding with the Paisley-based Rennie crime clan. In November 1995, three Rennie brothers received a visit from Gillespie, Pickett and Docherty and a bloodbath ensued. The violence escalated until six months later when Gillespie shot Mark Rennie dead. Gillespie, was jailed for the murder while Pickett and Docherty, were each convicted for earlier attacks on the three brothers. Daniel’s name was never publicly linked to the attacks but he had close links with many of those involved and was suspected of providing guns to the warring factions. As the Daniels waged a battle for control of the drugs trade in Milton, ghosts from Paisley came back to haunt Jamie when Pickett and Docherty formed a deadly alliance with the Lyons. The Lyons well understood the saying: “My enemy’s enemy is my friend.” Full story here: (Russell Findlay- “Caught In The Crossfire”

After-note: Purcell’s power over other Councillors was absolute throughout his tenure and it appears not to have dissipated over time. Police investigations must have been extensive but the absence of definitive proof of unlawful activity makes their task impossible.

 

 

 

 

 

 

12 Jul 2013: Anger as Purcell legacy City Parking hits negative equity

Glasgow’s City Parking (wholly owned by the council) is now sitting in negative equity. The firm today admitted its car parks are worth half as much as the loan it took out to buy them. The arm’s length external organisation, or ALEO, has been in the red under the weight of its mortgage ever since it was created by former city leader Steven Purcell in 2007. A recent revaluation revealed that it could not sell off the car parks (including major city centre assets) such as the parking facilities at Cambridge Street and Concert Square, to pay off the loan. The City Parking property portfolio was initially valued at £36million. It is now worth £16million reflecting an industry wide drop in all car park values as the recession scared shoppers away.

A council spokesman explained that the value of car parks across the UK had been downgraded significantly over the last five years. City Parking is not immune to that and is effectively facing a negative equity situation. He went on to offer that: “As many people who have experienced this domestically will understand; it only really has an impact if you intend to sell the property. It has no cash effect on the business, which reported an operating surplus at year end, or the council.”

However, the very fact City Parking has plunged so deeply into negative equity raises questions about how its car parks came to be valued so highly. Glasgow City Council “sold” the car parks and other properties to City Parking. The city then took a capital receipt from the transaction and left its AlEO to make payments on the loan, which is on what one insider called “sweet terms you would never get today”.

However, the deal, one of several similar schemes orchestrated under Mr Purcell, went down just as the bottom fell out of the financial markets and the economy shrank. In a market downturn, City Parking, which is also responsible for issuing parking fines, wasn’t able to cover the loan repayments from its operating profits and finished its first five years in the red. As a result, the council has had to bail out City Parking several times since it was created, including providing guarantees for an overdraft.

City Parking made a loss of £1.03million in 2011-12, according to accounts filed at Companies House. Full official figures are not available for 2012-13 but council sources said City Parking made an operating surplus of £241k in the last financial year.

Trade unions have previously called for City Property to be brought back in to direct council control. Other insiders have suggested the business could be taken over by, “City Property” another ALEO. However, negative equity, sources said, would make either option an expensive proposition. (Evening Times)

After-note: Another financial disaster inherited from Purcell’s stewardship of the Council. City Parking has been bailed out of a number of financial predicaments over the short time it has been in existence  management must shoulder the responsibility but the culprits are well retired now.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Homophobic or Toryphobic??

 

 

4 Mar 2017: David Mundell and son Oliver condemn “wings over Scotland” Tweet as homophobic and disgusting

The Scottish Secretary said: “This sort of behaviour has to be called out. We’re not going to face down homophobia unless we call out people who practice it.”

His son Oliver, who was elected to the Scottish Parliament last May, branded the “Wings Over Scotland” comment “absolutely disgusting and unacceptable” and added: “I get a lot of abuse online. There are certain individuals you don’t want to give oxygen to but sometimes comments people make just cross the line.”

The blogger insisted that the tweet was “Toryphobic” rather than homophobic.

Are the Mundell’s thin skinned??  Was their umbrage induced by the need of a photo opportunity??   Is the Unionist media upping the hype aiding the Tory party political agenda?? 

 

FiFi La Bon Bon (Notorious Scottish female blogger supported the Mundell’s

 

 

23 February-2009: Oliver – Son of David and his time at Edinburgh University was not without incident

Edinburgh University Students Association President (Divinity Student) candidate, Oliver Mundell was forced to apologise after reducing a disabled student to a nervous wreck in an attack on less able opponents when he was running for President of the Student’s Union, (he failed).

(http://www.journal-online.co.uk/article/5478-mundell_apologises_for_liberation_jibe)

 

 

 

 

And what about Michael Gove? A supreme Stud mehaps

 

 

 

10 Jan 2009: Young Tory Chairman caused outrage after boasting about dressing up as Madeleine McCann at a party.

Matthew Lewis bragged his costume would include a blonde wig, pink pajamas, teddy bear and vial of fake blood.

The student, 23,  a leading Young Conservative  was recently photographed with party leader David Cameron.

But in a series of foul comments, he joked with friends – two of them Tory members – online about his tasteless outfit..

Yesterday, the family of missing Madeleine, five, blasted his actions and said they had caused great hurt.

Spokesman Clarence Mitchell said: “The offensiveness of his comments is almost beyond belief.

It’s a disgrace Madeleine’s name and image should be made fun of in this way.”

Labour MP Steve McCabe added: “I’ve heard some pretty revolting things, but this takes the biscuit.”

Lewis had exchanges with friends on Facebook about how he needed a blonde wig to complete his outfit.

A fellow Tory asked him: “Is this a cunning (Baldrick style) plan to obtain the reward money?”

In one especially offensive exchange, Lewis was asked, “You like small girls, ey?” He replied: “I like to dress up as them, yes.”

On New Year’s Day, after the party, Lewis told another Conservative Future member online: “There was a brief moment I thought I might have gone too far with the costume, but it was OK.”

Unbelievably, one party guest was apparently dressed as Baby P, the boy who died in Haringey, London, after horrific abuse.

Last night, Lewis made a grovelling apology. He said in a statement: “I completely regret my behaviour and cannot express how sorry I am for the incredible hurt I have caused.

While my actions were not meant to be malicious, I understand the pain they brought.”

The fancy dress stunt outraged Deputy Prime Minister Caroline Spelman MP who, as Tory Party chairman at the time, said ‘This offensive behaviour is not only shocking but intolerable and completely unacceptable. There is no place for this sort of person in the Party”.

(http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/tory-causes-outrage-for-sick-madeleine-370294)

 

Matthew Lewis with David Cameron

 

 

2 Feb 2012: Young Conservative who sparked outrage after going to a party dressed as blood-stained Madeleine McCann is back working for the Tories

A Young Conservative who provoked outrage when he dressed-up as a blood-stained Madeleine McCann for a fancy dress party is back working for the Tories on European policy.

Matthew Lewis was supposedly expelled from the Party in 2009 by officials who were appalled by a series of entries about ‘my bad taste party outfit’ on his Facebook page.

But a biography next to a photo of a smiling Lewis on the Young Conservative Europe Group website states that he is in his second term as its chairman.

(http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2094961/Young-Conservative-sparked-outrage-going-party-dressed-blood-stained-Madeleine-McCann-working-Tories.html)

 

 

 

 

 

But supporters of the Union  are allowed to publicly state their views well knowing they will not be subject to criticism of Unionists of the Tory, Labour and Libdem Party’s 

 

Same sex marriage

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Labour party in Scotland and its abuse of power

From 1997-2010 the Labour Party ruled supreme at Westminster, the newly established parliament at Holyrood and had control of almost all of the local councils in Scotland. The health, wealth, welfare and future of Scots was very much vested with Labour party politicians and councillors.

Their performance was disgraceful and rightly the Scottish electorate turned away from them transferring their votes to the Scottish National Party which has provided good governance of Scotland in difficult financial times imposed on the country, first by the incompetent Alistair Darling then followed up with a vengeance by George Osborne.and the right wing extremists of the Tory party.

In the West of Scotland a number of Labour party politicians and councillors compromised their positions establishing links with unsavoury characters of the underworld.

The bubble burst for Labour at the time hints of criminal activity, in office, of the leader of the Glasgow City Council, Steven Purcell were exposed to public scrutiny. His subsequent departure, in disgrace provided opportunity for discussion of his record in office and this revealed a catalogue of misappropriation of public finance measured in £billions.

I posted a number of articles in my blog over the last 3 years, so that the misdeeds of the Labour party in Scotland, the depths of which are unfathomable will remain in the minds of voters.

The accompanying article outlines the unexplained loss of £600 million from a Hedge Fund managed by a man of business, well known in the West of Scotland. The content reveals the extent of links between so called legitimate business and person(s) of ill repute.

The disgraced Steven Purcell resurfaces together with characters linked to the Motherwell based Dalziel Country Club, (venue for the infamous 2002 Red Rose Dinner) Lack of space prevents  more detailed description of events but the full report is available.

 

 

Gregory King

 

 

 

8 Jul 2007: Float is set to value Mathon man at £140m.

Scottish entrepreneur Gregory King is set to make a £140million paper fortune with the float of Mathon Capital, just two years after launching the finance company. Mathon, which specialises in offering short-term loans to property developers, plans to raise £200million when it joins the Alternative Investment Market. The Glasgow-based business is expected to be valued at about £350 million, making the 40 per cent stake that founder King will own after the float worth £140million. King, a lawyer whose family has run property finance businesses in Scotland for generations, founded the company in 2005. (https://www.highbeam)

 

 

 

 

 

 

29 Mar 2010: Bridging Market Continues to Feel Squeeze as Mathon Collapses

The bridging sector was dealt a blow last week after it was revealed that commercial bridging lender Mathon Finance had been put into administration. Accountant and business adviser P.K.F. was appointed administrator of Mathon. The Glasgow based lender was established in 2004 as an asset based lender providing short term finance to brokers and firms in the commercial property sector. The company’s remaining assets have been sold to Juniper Property Finance by the administrator, which has secured the jobs of the five employees. As a result, the administrator received sufficient funds to enable all creditors to be paid in full with statutory interest. (highbeam.com)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Heather Capital: How a £600 Million Hedge Fund Vanished – Big named Investors Ripped Off

A trail of land deals and loans linked to the collapse of a £400 million international investment firm led by Scottish businessman Greg King has been revealed.

In late 2008 and early 2009, amid the financial crisis, worried investors pulled their money out of hedge funds across the board. Heather’s clients were no different. Heather quickly stopped giving them their cash, and it was put into liquidation in 2010. Liquidators took control of Heather and began looking for investors’ money. An examination by the Journal has found that some of the money appears to have ended up back in Glasgow, far from the world of high finance.

A chief beneficiary appears to have been Mr. King himself. According to Heather’s financial reports filed at the Isle of Man’s companies registry, he personally took nearly £52 million in fees between 2005 and 2008. The money was paid to a British Virgin Islands company controlled by Mr. King, and the amounts were in large part justified by Heather’s supposedly sterling performance. But performance turned out to be anything but. In 2008, according to the accounts, Heather wrote down £76 million on its loans and £92 million on foreign-exchange losses. There was a pattern. Heather would make large loans, ostensibly for property development. The loans often wouldn’t be paid back, leaving the beneficiaries with the cash. Over the years, much of the cash Heather raised from investors appears to have been disbursed this way.

The probe centred on loans, to develop plots of wasteland and derelict buildings across central Scotland (valued at £336 million) made through Mathon Ltd, a firm linked to Heather Capital (later renamed Harvest Finance), which, it is claimed claimed were bogus and designed to hide evidence that cash had been stolen by “one or more of the directors”. . Liquidators demanded repayment of 42 loans and repossessed secured properties which had been valued at £161million. But they were shocked when the properties sold for just £8million.

Forensic accountants and police are scouring the loans and four men including King, 46, solicitor Andrew Sobolewski, 54, accountant Andrew Miller, 62, and Scott Carmichael, 41, have been reported to the procurator fiscal.

Heather Capital is registered on the Isle of Man where liquidators Ernst & Young have lodged a claim for £100 million against the fund’s auditors KPMG in a bid to claw back cash for investors from around the world. Papers lodged at the Courts of Justice claim that KPMG should have been aware that Heather was being operated in “a dishonest manner”.

Ernst & Young refused to comment on their professional negligence claim against KPMG. A spokesman for KPMG said: “We don’t think the claim has any merit and we intend to defend it vigorously. “We stand by the quality of our work.”

Civil proceedings in the High Court in London have raised the possibility of fraud. In a case in which Mathon’s liquidators sought disclosure of documents, the liquidators said properties valued on Mathon’s books at around £161 million had been sold for just £8 million. They alleged that the loan book was a sham concocted to hide the fact that money may have been embezzled.

The High Court judge hearing the dispute concluded there is strong indication that “fraudulent conduct exists even though the precise nature of the fraud and the identities of those involved still needs to be ascertained.” Investors, meanwhile, have been left with few answers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The under-noted West of Scotland businessmen secured major cash loans (against derelict land and rundown properties) from Mathon ltd:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Rea Brothers

Five companies that received 10 loans from Mathon listed boxing promoter Mario Rea as a director or secretary. Another loan was made to a company of which Mario’s twin brother, Carlo, was director and cousin Anthony was secretary. Regulatory filings show that 9 of these 11 loans are still outstanding. The twins were targeted by the Scottish police drugs squad in 2007 during a major money laundering investigation but charges were dropped by the Crown.

They ran several firms in Lanarkshire and formerly owned the Dalziel Park country club which went under owing £2.5 million in 2010. Mario was banned from being a company director for seven years. DMR Assets Ltd, which had Mario Rea, 36, as a director and his twin Carlo as secretary, was given a £4.84 million loan by Mathon, secured against a property in Belhaven Terrace, Wishaw in 2008. The house was later sold for just £425k. When DMR went bust in 2009, administrators were able to claw back just £1.85 million of the loan. Mario Rea was also a director and secretary of Glenavon (Scotland) Ltd which secured a loan from Mathon, against The Winning Post – an abandoned pub in Calderbank, near Airdrie – in 2008. The building was demolished in 2011. The land remains undeveloped. Mario was also a director of Rea Property and Developments Ltd which received a loan from Mathon, secured against waste ground in Main Street, Plains, in 2007. The firm went into liquidation a year after the loan was granted. (1) In 2012 Mario was told by police that IRA hit-men were plotting to kill him over claims he duped them in a tobacco deal.In 2013 both Mario and his twin were convicted of assaulting a member of the Lyons’ crime clan at a cinema a year.

 

Mario Rea

 

 

 

 
Allan Stewart and Stephen McKenna

The pair once claimed that they wanted to give away 40 per cent of their income to good causes and boasted about their charity work. They gave a job to shamed council chief Steven Purcell in 2010 but denied the appointment was “payback” for a favourable land deal.

Stewart has been declared bankrupt twice. The duo secured a total of 11 loans from Mathon. Nothing paid back. Brechin Developments Ltd, another firm run by the pair, got two separate loans secured against St Columba’s and Maison Dieu churches in Brechin. These were never paid back. McKenna, of Pollokshields, Glasgow, was sequestrated last year over debts totalling £796k. Stewart was banned from being a company director for seven years in the 1990s. Stewart and McKenna Ltd were also taken to court in 2010 over an unpaid tax bill of almost £80k.

 

 

 

 

 
Lawrence Gillick

The son a Glasgow Rangers legend, Lawrence, known as Larry, was declared bankrupt following the collapse of a greyhound racing track in Ayr.

He was a director of Towndale Glasgow (Ltd) when they received a loan, in 2006 against derelict land on Yoker Ferry Road, Glasgow – the site of the former Wharf pub. The firm went into administration in 2008.

He was at the centre of a Scottish Crime and Drugs Enforcement Agency operation which saw £6.5 million of Russian mafia money seized from Scottish bank accounts in 2010. Gillick, (who joined ex–England boss Terry Venables in a failed bid to buy Spurs in 1991) attempted to transfer the cash and claimed he was building an oil refinery in Iraq. But police suspected the money was part of a laundering scam involving transfers between accounts in Latvia, Hungary, Russia, America and Scotland and grabbed the cash. It later emerged that some of the money had been transferred to US firms with links to organised crime.

In 1995 Gillick was involved in a scheme which led to the Salvation Army being conned out of more than £8.8 million in an alleged fraud. The charity took legal action forcing him to repay the cash.  (manxforums.com)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Follow-up

5 Feb 2015: Four Scots investigated over £400million collapse of hedge fund

Heather Capital director Gregory King and three associates are being probed over the firm’s collapse, which was related to loans made by Mathon Finance Ltd against a series of land plots in central Scotland. It is claimed the plots were often of low value, despite huge loans being made by Mathon for development which allegedly never happened. Police said the men are the subject of a report to the procurator fiscal. (Daily Record)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

8 Feb 2015: Whistle-blower It Was a Cover-Up Not an Investigation

Paul Delaney, a former SNP councillor in North Lanarkshire, is not surprised to learn the parcel of land in Plains is now part of the huge fraud inquiry. But blowing the whistle cost Paul his political career and he’s been out in the cold since. He said: “I wasn’t aware of the latest development but it doesn’t surprise me. I really hope that people in government listen to this now. “There have been things going wrong for years in the council and no one has the guts to deal with it. Other people were suspected at the time but everything was covered up. (highbeam.com)

 

 

 

 

 

 

9 Feb 2015: HSBC helped wealthy clients cheat the UK out of millions of pounds of tax, whistle-blower reveals

Britain’s biggest bank helped wealthy clients cheat the UK out of millions of pounds in tax, a whistle-blower has revealed. Thousands of leaked accounts from HSBC’s private bank in Switzerland show bankers helped clients evade tax and offered deals to help tax dodgers stay ahead of the law. HSBC admitted that some individuals took advantage of bank secrecy to hold undeclared accounts but said it has now “fundamentally changed”.

The documents, stolen in 2007 by a computer expert working for HSBC in Geneva, contain details of more than 100,000 clients from around the world. Offshore accounts are not illegal, but many people use them to hide cash from the tax authorities. Though tax avoidance is legal, deliberately hiding money to evade tax is not. (Daily Record)

 

 

 

 

 

15 Feb 2015: Scot Behind Pounds £150k Tory Donation in Police Probe over Alleged Embezzlement

One of the Conservative Party’s biggest Scottish donors is being investigated over “alleged embezzlement” at a finance firm linked to a collapsed £400m hedge fund, it has emerged. Lawyer Andrew Sobolewski, 56, from Bridge of Weir in Renfrewshire, is the subject of a police report to the Procurator Fiscal. He and three other men have been reported in relation to Mathon Ltd, a former finance company that loaned millions to Scottish property developers – deals later described in court papers as “a fabrication and a sham”. Sobolewski was a director and chief executive of Mathon Ltd for part of the relevant period. It has now emerged that, through a connected company, Sobolewski gave the Tories Pounds £150k on the eve of the last general election. (highbeam.com)

 

 

 

 

 

 

22 Feb 2015: Almost £3m of Investors’ Cash Disappeared When a Plan to Convert a House into a Care Home Turned to Dust. The Man with the Plan, Ex-Drugs Suspect Barry Cushley

A former drugs and money laundering suspect is the latest businessman linked to dubious loans made by a £400 million hedge fund before it collapsed. Bankrupt Barry Cushley applied for planning permission at one of the 11 sites across Scotland whose owners were lent millions by Heather Capital, led by Greg King. Like the others, the ambitious plans for the site did not materialise but most of the money was never recovered. A major police investigation has been launched into Heather Capital, the offshore financial empire run by King, from Glasgow. His fund lent millions of pounds to develop plots of wasteland and derelict buildings across central Scotland. (highbeam.com)

 

 

 

 

 

 

29 Mar 2015: Blue-chip bankers lose £210m in hedge fund that collapsed after investing in derelict land in Scotland

The biggest names in world banking and finance lost tens of millions of pounds after the collapse of an investment firm connected to Greg King’s Heather Capital hedge fund. The extent to which major investors had backed Isle of Man-registered Aarkad Plc, who channelled money into Heather, are laid bare in documents seen by the Sunday Mail. Some of Aarkad’s global investors held stakes valued at up to £50million.

The scale of the stakes can be revealed as the police ­continue to probe the ­collapse of investment firms led by King. His Heather Capital fund lent millions of pounds to develop wasteland and ­derelict buildings in central Scotland. But the sites remain empty while ­investors search for their missing millions. Aarkad was set up to act as a “feeder fund” – used by hedge funds as a tax-efficient way to pool investors’ cash – for Heather. After Heather’s collapse, a ­liquidator was appointed to wind up Aarkad in 2010.

Aarkad’s assets had been valued at £210million in 2008 before Heather ran into difficulties. Heather was thought to be worth £500million when it went bust. It’s thought investors are unlikely to receive any of their cash back.

King was listed as a director of Aarkad at the Isle of Man’s Companies Registry. Records show his address was in ­Gibraltar. The list of investors on the official ­register of shareholders from December 2009 includes major financial groups or their subsidiaries, such as UBS Credit Suisse, HSBC Private Bank, Bank Julius Baer & Co and the private banking arm of the Edmond de Rothschild group.

Dutch-based Citco – a specialist ­custodian bank – held a stake worth around £50million for ­clients. The list also includes private Swiss banks. In some cases, financial institutions will have invested in their own right. But in others they will have been holding shares for clients. A spokesman for Julius Baer – who held around ­£4million of shares– said: “The shares were ­purchased by the bank on behalf of ­clients.”

Last month, HSBC Private Bank in Switzerland issued an apology after ­helping their rich ­British clients to avoid paying tax and launder cash. One financial expert said: “The share register shows how much money was pouring into Aarkad and subsequently Heather. It’s staggering to think that these investors have lost all their cash.”

A number of ­private investors, ­including two US doctors, are on the shareholder list. Dr Paul Laraia, from New Hampshire and Dr Robert Hillberg, from ­Boston, each invested around £150k.

King, of Newton Mearns, Glasgow, is also on the list, although his stake, which was worth around £80k in 2008, was modest compared to most investors. Ernst and Young are trying to recover Heather Capital’s cash

Peter Watson,(suspended from his job as a part-time sheriff), also had shares worth around £200k. Lawyer Watson was a ­director of Heather’s lending arm Mathon Ltd for less than a year. He’s been de-benched pending a court case into the fund’s ­collapse. His former firm, Levy & McRae, is one of several being sued by Heather’s ­liquidator, Ernst & Young, in a civil case to try to find the missing millions.

Ernst & Young have also launched an action against the fund’s auditor KPMG. Lawyer Andrew Sobolewski also had a stake in Aarkad worth around £200k. King, Sobolewski, accountant Andrew Miller, and ­property developer Scott Carmichael have all been reported to the procurator ­fiscal in connection with allegations of embezzlement concerning Mathon.  A Crown Office spokesman said: “The report remains under consideration.” (Daily Record)

 

 

 

 

 

 

17 May 2015: Scots tycoon Greg King at the centre of £400m hedge fund collapse refuses to apologise to investors on flying visit home

The elusive tycoon at the centre of a criminal probe into a £400million hedge fund collapse has jetted back into Scotland. But Greg King refused to apologise to investors after returning to his native Glasgow on a flying visit.Outside his parents’ mansion on the city’s south side, the multi-millionaire, who denies any wrong-doing, referred all questions to blue-chip legal firm Carter Ruck.It is the first time he has been seen in Scotland since the crash of his hedge fund Heather Capital was revealed in December.

King, 46, lawyer Andrew Sobolewski, accountant Andrew Millar and property expert Scott Carmichael were named in a police report sent to the Crown Office. Investors put money into the fund and Heather gave subsidiary firm Mathon huge loans for developments in Scotland. It is claimed the plots were low value and developments never happened. Asked about the collapse, King replied: “I am only back in Scotland for one day but any comment should come from my lawyers Carter Ruck.”

King lives in the gated La Zagaleta complex in Marbella, Spain, where properties sell for up to £20million. He is rarely in Scotland. He set up Heather in 2004. They went into liquidation six years later. He paid himself about £34million between 2005 and 2008.

Liquidators Ernst & Young claim the fund’s auditors KPMG should have been aware it was being run fraudulently. They claimed in court papers that many of the loans were “a fabrication and a sham”. They say properties valued on the firm’s books at £161million had been sold for just £8million. Investors are unlikely to see any of their money.

Yesterday, the Crown Office said a report in relation to four men “remains under consideration”. Ernst & Young declined to comment.

Investors’ £400m disappeared on financial merry-go-round When Greg King launched his Heather Capital hedge fund in 2004, clients flocked to invest. The fund then handed huge loans to developers through subsidiary firm Mathon.

When Heather went out of business in 2010, accountants found the hedge fund’s cash had been paid in loans to firms with links to controversial businessmen Mario and Carlo Rea, Lawrence Gillick and Allan Stewart.

The loans were secured against derelict land and rundown properties. Liquidators for Mathon, renamed Harvest, claim their loan book was “a sham designed to conceal the fact earlier funds borrowed from Heather may have been embezzled by one or more of the directors”.

A multi-million-pound writ was served on law firm Levy & McRae by Ernst & Young over their role in the scandal. Their ex senior partner Peter Watson, (who was suspended as a sheriff), was briefly a Mathon director.

 

Greg King

 

 

 

References:

(1)

8 Feb 2015: Whistle-blower – It Was a Cover-up not an Investigation

The whistle-blower who sparked a corruption probe into the planning decision says his allegations were covered up instead of being fully investigated. Paul Delaney, a former SNP councillor in North Lanarkshire, is not surprised to learn the parcel of land in Plains is now part of the huge fraud inquiry. But blowing the whistle cost Paul his political career and he’s been out in the cold since. He said: “I wasn’t aware of the latest development but it doesn’t surprise me. I really hope that people in government listen to this now. “There have been things going wrong for years in the council and no one has the guts to deal with it. Other people were suspected at the time but everything was covered up. “Of course I feel bitter. I lost everything for exposing something that the public should have known all about. I was hung out to dry.”

In 2010 Paul made public some information on a disciplinary case involving council planner Danny Welsh. Welsh had been lavished with gifts by Mario Rea while involved with his application to build a new housing development. He had holidayed in Rea’s plush Spanish villa and received free tickets for Celtic games as the businessman sought clearance to build 41 houses in Plains. Welsh was sacked when it emerged he had accepted the gifts. He took his bosses to an employment tribunal, claiming he had been unfairly dismissed. But a judge said Welsh lacked credibility and dismissed his claim. Judge Raymond Williamson added: “The inappropriateness of a planning official accepting gifts from property developers ought to be self-evident.”

Welsh and Rea were investigated for corruption by the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency and were reported to the Crown Office but a prosecution was not pursued due to “insufficient evidence”. Meanwhile, Paul found himself suspended by the Standards Commission for leaking confidential documents and he was marginalised by his own party till he lost his council seat. Now a carer for his elderly mother, Paul said: “I was brought up to believe that when you were honest and tried to do something decent, people would get behind you and push you on. “Not in this case. It was a case of, ‘You’re on your own, mate.’ “The SNP basically told me that I’d done something wrong and I would have to pay for it. As far as they were concerned, the Standards Commission were correct and I had no right to release this information.” The land in question, which has never been developed, is one of 11 sites in Scotland at the centre of a large-scale investigation into the activities of collapsed hedge fund Heather Capital. (Sunday Mail)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lord Derry Irvine    Tony & Cherie Lord Derry Irvine’s Trainee’s

 

 

 

 

21 Apr 2002: Scotland – A country In the grip of the Labour Party  

The most dramatic contrast between the establishments north and south of the Border is in the world of business. Although the late John Smith launched a famous ‘prawn cocktail’ offensive in the City of London to persuade business that Labour could be trusted, it was only with the advent of New Labour that the party south of the Border was able to lessen the impact of the business community’s traditional hostility towards Labour. However, Labour’s tentacles in Scottish business run deep, giving access to a variety of cut-price services during campaigns, and allowing the party to use business figures to attack the claims of opposing parties.
A key pro-Labour business figure is Baroness Goudie, the Labour peer and secretary of the Scottish Industry Forum. While the forum claims to be independent, critics accuse it of being too close to Labour. Baroness Goudie is the former organiser of the Labour Solidarity Campaign and is married to James Goudie QC, a barrister with Lord Derry Irvine’s chambers. John Reid, the former Scottish Secretary, employed Goudie to act on his behalf when he was investigated by Elizabeth Filkin, the Commons sleaze watchdog, in 1999. (The Scotsman)

 

 

 

James Gouldie QC

 

 

 

 
Leading UK Counsel – James Gouldie QC – Office in London

He presents cases in a way that courts find helpful”. “He doesn’t sit on the fence, but gives his opinion, is very easy to deal with and is down to earth”. James is a “hard hitter, who always make eminently sensible contributions to a case” and is a man with “great intellect who has a real gift for providing straightforward, user-friendly advice on complicated problems”. “A very shrewd advocate” and “heavyweight public procurement barrister”. More here: (https://www.11kbw.com/barristers/profile/james-goudie)

 

12 Jul 2016: The Labour party legal advisor says Jeremy Corbyn must get MP backing to run again

Mr Goudie’s presented his legal opinion to today’s crunch meeting of Labour’s ruling national executive committee, which will rule on the row later tonight. The advice has never been made public until now, but a copy has been leaked to PoliticsHome. In it, Mr Goudie makes clear that in his opinion, the Labour rule book shows that Mr Corbyn must gain nominations to prove that he has “a measurable degree of support” among his parliamentary colleagues. (https://www.politicshome.com/news/uk/political-parties/labour-party/news/77231/revealed-labour-party-legal-advice-which-says)

 

 

 

 

 

 
2005: Misuse of the security services for private purposes by Tony Blair and his wife – Harassing Robert Henderson – A disturbing story of an abuse of power

On March 13 1997 Tony Blair and his wife made a complaint against Robert Henderson to Belgravia Police. The complaint concerned letters sent to the Blair’s by Henderson. The CPS rejected the complaint within hours but Henderson was placed under Special Branch investigation.

In 1997 Robert Henderson, a retired civil servant, wrote to the then leader of the Opposition Tony Blair to ask for his help. Eventually he wrote a dozen or so letters to Blair and Cherie Booth. Blair then tried to have him prosecuted but the legal authorities refused to act. Blair or someone close to him then set the tabloids on him and he was smeared in the Daily Mirror and Daily Record as a stalker and a racist.

The sequence of events that followed indicate an abuse of the power of the state, which had it been conducted against a lesser man than Robert Henderson might have had tragic consequences. I have extracted a small part of the story that is relevant to this post. A full transcript of events can be found here:. http://www.whale.to/c/blairs2.html

 

 

 

Tony & Gordon

 

 

 

 

 

The Data Protection Act (DPA)
The original Mirror story mentioned that Special Branch had been asked to investigate me despite the fact that the Crown Prosecution Service had declared unequivocally that I had committed no crime. Using the Data Protection Act (DPA) I have confirmed that Special Branch did take an interest in me. It took three years before they would reveal it, but eventually the Metropolitan Police admitted that Special Branch had a file on me. Use of the DPA has also resulted (after years of trying) in confirmation from MI5 that they have had a file on me since 1997.

 

 

Derry Irvine and his wife Alison (previously married to Donald Dewar)

 

 

 

 

 

The Data Protection Tribunal (DPT)

I made a subject access request to MI5 under the 1998 DPA act when it became ‘live’ in 2000. I received a reply which took the regulation Security Service ‘We can neither confirm nor deny’ line.

This appeared to be in direct contradiction of the 1998 DPA and the Human Rights Act (HRA). Accordingly I appealed to the DPT (now the Information Tribunal), challenging MI5’s right to neither confirm nor deny whether any data was held. (Under the DPA MI5 have the right to withhold data on security grounds but use of that power would confirm that data was held.)

My appeal was scheduled to be heard by a panel of three. One was a retired Appeal Court judge, Sir Anthony Evans. The other two members were Michael Beloff QC and James Goudie QC. Beloff and Goudie were not only closely connected with the Blairs but also the Labour Party.

These relationships were of prime importance because my appeal concerned data which, if it existed, could only have related to the Blairs’ attempt to have me prosecuted and the aftermath of that failed attempt.

Mr Beloff was joint head of Cherie Blair’s old chambers at 4/5 Gray’s Inn, Gray’s Inn Sq, where Mrs Blair was a member from 1991 until 2000 when she left to join a new chambers, Matrix.

Mr Beloff originally intended to join Matrix but withdrew at the last moment. He is also a personal friend of the Blairs and was the lawyer called in to sort out Geoffrey Robinson’s problems with his offshore trust. He is a former chairman of the Society of Labour Lawyers.

Goudie is also a personal friend of the Blairs and the Lord Chancellor, Lord lrvine; so is his wife, Lady Goudie, who was made a baroness by Mr Blair in 1998. Goudie is a former Labour leader of Brent Council and was once a prospective Labour parliamentary candidate. He has done legal work for the Labour party.

Lady Goudie is a major fund raiser for the Labour Party and acted as chief fund raiser for Frank Dobson when he ran for the post of mayor of London. Lady Goudie is a friend of Gordon Brown’s wife, Sarah Macaulay, and has done work for her PR agency Hobsbawn Macaulay. The Goudies attended the Macauley-Brown wedding.

That such a panel was allocated to my case is unsurprising because the Lord Chancellor appoints the members of DPT panels. The present Lord Chancellor, Derry Irving, is a very close friend of both the Blairs who were once pupils in his chambers.

Tony Blair also practised in lrvine’s chambers until he entered Parliament. Cherie Blair’s move to Beloff’s Chambers was initiated by lrvine, lrvine is also a personal friend of Goudie and Beloff and has had a professional relationship with Mr Goudie dating back over a quarter of century. Goudie is currently joint-head of Lord lrvine’s old Chambers.

Despite the links between Blair, Goudie and Beloff, the President of the panel, Anthony Evans, refused to disbar them from sitting. Consequently, I made a complaint to the then Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, Sir John Stevens, accusing Evans and Irving of conspiring to pervert the course of justice in the most blatant fashion by deliberately packing a judicial panel.

Stevens refused to begin an investigation. I then submitted a complaint against Sir John Stevens to the Met. That complaint is still under investigation by the Met’s Department of Professional Standards.

In the end my appeal never came before the DPT because the Lib-Dem MP, Norman Baker, had an appeal on the same issue of neither confirming or denying upheld by the DPT which meant that my appeal fell as the precedent was established.

I then made a new appeal to MI5 and got an admission that they held data on me. However, the full data was not revealed

I suspect that the authorities ceased taking any interest in me once Blair announced he would be resigning as PM. Nonetheless I cannot be sure.

 

 

 

Baroness Gouldie

 

 

 

 
25 Oct 2009: Baroness Gouldie & Her Flat in Glasgow

A close friend of prime minister Gordon Brown, who lives with her husband in a £1.5 million house in London has claimed £230k in expenses by saying a flat in Glasgow is her main home. Baroness Goudie, a Labour peer and party fundraiser, has lived since childhood in London, where her two sons grew up and her husband works as a leading barrister. But when submitting House of Lords allowances, she claimed her main address was a Glasgow apartment. This has allowed Goudie to claim subsistence allowances intended as payments for those outside the capital, who need help to meet the cost of accommodation in London. Goudie acknowledged she did not spend much of her time in her £200k Glasgow flat, although she was there “frequently”.

Since public records of peers’ expenses were first published in April 2001, Goudie,63, has recorded that her main home is in Glasgow. Including an estimated amount for 2008-9 expenses, the Glasgow address has enabled her to recoup over £150k in accommodation expenses from the Lords over the past eight years. She also claimed an estimated £80k for travel between London and Glasgow.

Goudie has strong associations with Scotland. She is a former member of the Court of Napier University and used to serve on the board of a Glasgow hospice. She appeared on a newspaper list of “powerful women” in Scotland five years ago because of close links to senior Labour politicians and was secretary of the Scottish Industry Forum, which raised money for the party. Goudie herself has given £16k to Labour. On Friday, Goudie issued a statement saying she had stayed at the flat recently with her husband and would be there again “shortly”. She wrote: “If anyone says that much of the time I am not at my Glasgow apartment that is true. The same could be said of our London property. I do not count nights or days.” (http://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/baroness-claimed-163-230-000-1-1362472)

 

 

 

young Tony

 

 

 

 
27 Jan 2011: Baroness Gouldie let off despite ‘doubts’ about her expenses

Following a year-long investigation, the Clerk of the Parliaments, Michael Pownall, said he had “doubts” about the designation of the flat as a main residence. But no further action was taken after Lady Goudie apologised in writing. She also repaid £5.2k voluntarily which she had claimed for a three-month period when she had not visited the Glasgow flat at all because of ill-health. In total, Lady Goudie claimed about £168k in overnight expenses and £82k for travel to and from the property over a nine-year period. Three months ago, she sold the flat for a profit of £50k, and now designates her London address as her main home.
Lady Goudie’s apology and the report into her claims was slipped out quietly on the parliamentary website before Christmas. Investigations into nine peers with questionable designations were dropped after Mr Pownall, who is responsible for policing the system, ruled that it was sufficient for a peer to stay for just one night a month at a property for it to be their main home. The Clerk accepted that Lady Goudie had “extensive Scottish connections, familial, business and voluntary”. (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/mps-expenses/8285114/Peer-let-off-despite-doubts-about-her-expenses.html)