Latest news with #UnexplainedWealthOrder
The National
05-05-2025
- Business
- The National
It's time for ministers to stop politicking and investigate Trump
He is a habitual liar and political fraudster. With a lifetime of controversies and 34 charges of falsifying records upheld against him last year by a New York court, his business practices have always been controversial. I first began raising questions about Trump in the early 2000s when he was very publicly lobbying then-first minister Alex Salmond's Scottish Government to oppose renewable energy sources and to support his controversial golf course in Aberdeenshire. There were too many red flags, and, right from the start, there were concerns about where the money had come from. READ MORE: Reform rise sees Unionist parties shifting further to the right He didn't like the scrutiny, and, in what wasn't necessarily a high point for either of us, he even tried to have me disciplined for blasphemy in 2012 over a tweet in which I poked fun at one of his egotistical quotes when he appeared at a Holyrood committee hearing. It was 2017 when I first called for an investigation into the purchase of the land for the site, and for the Trump Turnberry resort in Ayrshire. I urged the Scottish Government to use an Unexplained Wealth Order (UWO), a mechanism that allows investigations into 'politically exposed persons' who are suspected of involvement in serious crime. Ministers claimed that they didn't have the power to pursue a UWO even if they wanted to, a point that was contradicted by legal advice sought by campaign group Avaaz which showed that the First Minister could request one. The Scottish Government refused the calls. I even brought a motion in 2021 urging ministers to seek one, which saw the SNP and Tories forming an unlikely alliance in voting it down. Unfortunately my suspicions were well founded. When the New York State Supreme Court found Donald Trump guilty of civil fraud, it included findings that he had falsely inflated the value of assets, including his Scottish golf course. It meant that we now have indisputable and independent evidence in the public domain that Trump's business dealings, including those in Scotland, were linked to fraud. So why won't the Scottish Government confirm if he is being investigated? At long last it seems that he is finally being held to account by the legal system in the US, albeit with the power of the White House to shield him. Yet, even while the wheels in the US are slowly turning, Scotland's Civil Recovery Unit has only gone as far as providing the same comment that they have done since 2021, saying that they cannot 'confirm or deny' whether an investigation has commenced. Stringing out this position is no longer tenable. Following the rulings in New York, there is now urgent public interest in what action is being taken to investigate Trump's business dealings in Scotland. (Image: Allen Eyestone, Allen Eyestone / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images) For years, ministers have hidden behind officials and said that they cannot confirm or deny whether Trump is under investigation. In that same length of time, an investigation and a court case have now taken place in New York. Nobody can be above the law. It's a core principle of any legal system that everyone be treated equally, regardless of how rich or powerful they are. If we are to have a credible system then anyone who may have broken the law must be held to account. Donald Trump is a profoundly dangerous man and has shown himself to be utterly dishonest. Every day there is a new mistruth or a lie. From petty claims about the size of the crowds at his rallies to major geopolitical issues, he has proven himself to be completely untrustworthy. There is no doubt that the US president feels an affinity for Scotland, and that he regards his Scottish interests as prized possessions in his global business empire. He clearly wants to expand his family's footprint here, and has a new golf course set to open in the months ahead, with speculation that he will attend the opening. It's no secret that the Scottish Greens are dismayed about the way that the Scottish and UK governments have responded to Donald Trump's re-election. We will never support cosy phone calls and meetings to discuss 'mutual interests', and we don't believe that he should be greeted with the trappings of a state visit. But the call for a UWO is not about his shocking and shameful record in office. It is about his basic integrity and about how our government responds to the wealthy and powerful. The New York courts have exposed a litany of concerns that need to be investigated and acted upon. There is a clear and urgent need to get to the bottom of Trump's finances and the business he runs. It's long past time for the Scottish Government to demonstrate that Scotland is not a country where anyone with the money can buy whatever land and property they want, no questions asked.
The National
05-05-2025
- Business
- The National
Scotland urged to ‘take lead' on investigating Donald Trump's finances
New York-based Avaaz published a report in 2019 which raised questions about the $60 million Trump paid for Turnberry Golf Club amid further questions over the purchase of land for the US president's other golf course in Scotland – the Trump International Golf Links in Aberdeenshire. The group have since continually pushed for the Scottish Government to grant an Unexplained Wealth Order, a mechanism that allows investigations into 'politically exposed persons' like Trump suspected of involvement in serious crime. READ MORE: John Swinney stresses 'threat' of Nigel Farage after English elections This included challenging the Scottish Government in the Court of Session in 2021, which determined that Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain QC must decide on whether to seek an Unexplained Wealth Order. The Scottish Greens, notably co-leader Patrick Harvie, have also continually called for an investigation to be launched. It comes after the New York State Supreme Court found Trump and his company guilty of civil fraud in February last year, finding them guilty of falsely inflating the value of Trump's assets – including his golf course in Aberdeen – which he has appealed. The former president was also subsequently convicted by a New York jury on 34 counts of falsifying business records. Nick Flynn, the legal director of Avaaz, told The National that Scottish ministers can and should still 'take the lead' on investigating Donald Trump's finances by seeking an unexplained wealth order, and pushing the Lord Advocate to do so. 'I am disappointed and surprised that the Scottish Government have avoided the issue for the best part of 6 years,' he said. 'We filed our brief to the Scottish ministers in April of 2019. It's 40 pages and it sets out the case for seeking an unexplained wealth order and points to the unanswered questions about where the money came from and basically says that the threshold for seeking permission for granting the order is easily cleared, and that remains our position.' Flynn added: 'One might assume that the explanation for them not doing it and continually refusing to explain their position is a lack of political will and courage, and, you know, that's disappointing. 'And with Trump now back in the White House, I'm not sure they are going to have a change of heart.' The organisation wrote to Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain in October last year. READ MORE: Pro-independence parties urged to sign electoral pact ahead of Holyrood election After a delay, the Scottish Government eventually responded in December in a letter seen by The National, with the same answer that has been given in past years. 'It remains the position, that given the sensitive nature of civil recovery work, the Civil Recovery Unit (CRU) operates a policy that it will neither confirm nor deny the existence of any on-going investigation or, in particular, whether any investigatory orders are being applied for,' the letter read. 'Frankly, I just really think that's not good enough and that the Scottish people are owed some transparency around this. There are serious questions. It is clearly a big issue,' Flynn said. 'There is a cloud of suspicion hanging over the golf course and they have the tools that they need to be able to clear that up, and they seem very reluctant to use it, which is, I think a dereliction of their public duties. 'If President Putin owned some golf course, there would be an unexplained wealth order on it right now. And I don't see a big difference.' He added: 'The Scottish Government has a tool which is designed to shed light on the finances of politically exposed persons like President Trump or President Putin or whomever, and it's a win-win situation for everybody because it allows suspicions to be clarified. "And I think they do have the opportunity to take a lead in using that tool to clear up a matter of huge public interest. I think they're showing a shocking lack of leadership at the moment.'
