Ex-MP Natalie McGarry offered to pay ‘outstanding’ cash, court hears

McGarry denies the charges against her at Glasgow Sheriff Court.

Glasgow Sheriff Court (Jane Barlow/PA) (PA Archive)

A former MP accused of embezzling thousands from a pro-Scottish independence group offered to pay “outstanding” funds, a court has heard.

Natalie McGarry, 40, who represented Glasgow East, is accused of embezzling more than £25,000 from two Scottish independence campaign groups, including Women For Independence (WFI).

She is on trial at Glasgow Sheriff Court charged with misappropriating £21,000 between April 26 2013 and November 30 2015 while she was treasurer of the organisation.

It is alleged that McGarry transferred cash made from fundraising into her own personal accounts and failed to send donations intended for Perth and Kinross foodbank and the charity Positive Prisons, Positive Futures.

A second charge she faces is allegedly embezzling £4,611 between April 9 2014 and August 10 2015.

McGarry denies the two charges against her.

Appearing as a witness, former health secretary Jeane Freeman discussed her “annoyance” with the time it was taking for McGarry to provide the financial details, including the group’s PayPal account.

Ms Freeman also told the jury that she had no idea PayPal payments from the organisation’s independence Crowdfunder were connected to McGarry’s bank account.

Ms Freeman, ex-MSP for Cumnock, Carrick and Doon Valley, wrote to McGarry alongside fellow WFI member Carolyn Leckie to demand all receipts and invoices be supplied.

And in an email dated September 11 2015, McGarry replied: “I have been taking this extremely seriously.”

In the email McGarry said she had ordered her own personal bank statements to show evidence, however she said her bank only offered statements from the previous six months, and she had to order earlier ones at a cost of £5 each.

McGarry also returned £6,436 of WFI cash that was stored in her bank account, according to the email.

“I have transferred the money and sent transcripts for PayPal and have sent the receipts that I have,” she told Ms Freeman and Ms Leckie.

She continued: “Perhaps it would be pertinent if you could tell me what figure you see to be outstanding.

“I am more than prepared to pay what you see as the outstanding balance until it is proved undoubtably that the money was paid out, at which point it can be reimbursed.”

However it had been revealed earlier in court that McGarry had used a loan to pay back some of the independence organisation’s funds.

Ms Freeman told the jury that she had no idea the £6,436 was paid back via a loan.

And it would not have been fair, she said, to give McGarry an indication of how much cash was missing until all receipts had been supplied and an investigation had been carried out by Elizabeth Young, the accountant who overtook McGarry’s financial responsibilities at WFI.

In response to McGarry’s email, the former MSP for Cumnock, Carrick and Doon Valley told Ms Leckie at 23.29 that McGarry’s comments had left her “pissed off” due to the accused’s attempt to “play the high ground”.

Ms Freeman wrote to Ms Leckie that the financial gap would be determined by Ms Young’s investigation – the accountant who took over McGarry’s financial responsibilities.

She wrote: “That is the gap and she has to pay it – in full and at once.”

And in the court hearing, Ms Freeman said McGarry, who was in charge of finances at WFI, should only have used her own bank account as a temporary hold for the funds before transferring them directly to the WFI account.

A WFI bank account was set up, however McGarry required the signatures of two other campaigners before she reimbursed expenses.

In the meantime, “dozens” of expenses were coming in each day, according to McGarry’s lawyer Allan Mcleod.

And due to the fast nature of the campaign, if WFI members such as McGarry paid for materials out of their own pocket she should have claimed it back on expenses.

McGarry may have been unable to travel to get the signatures from the other members each time a cheque had to be written.

But Ms Freeman offered to help McGarry on a number of occasions, she told the court.

She said: “Natalie McGarry and I lived not too far apart and I travelled a great deal for campaigns and business opportunities and I could have assisted.”

McGarry could also have told the members that the process requiring two signatories was not working.

The jury also heard that Ms Freeman said the accused “from time to time appeared to be quite disorganised”.

However she was “unwilling” to accept offers of help as the independence group grew in popularity and responsibilities escalated.

The trial, before Sheriff Tom Hughes, continues on Friday.