No action against ex-Tory worker in £1m VAT scam

No action is being taken against Malcolm Macaskill, who has a brain tumour

A former Conservative party branch treasurer involved in a £1m VAT fraud and money laundering scheme will have no further action taken against him.

Malcolm Macaskill - who has a brain tumour and was unfit to stand trial - filed bogus forms to HMRC which grossly overstated the sales from his sandwich businesses to reclaim more than £800,000.

He also laundered £200,000 through his local Conservative parties in Glasgow and Rutherglen, Lanarkshire where he was treasurer as well as deputy chairman.

Further money was then funnelled through the bank accounts of his current and ex-wives.

Because of Macaskill's illness, an examination of facts hearing took place at Glasgow Sheriff Court in February.

He was not present for most of the hearing and remains living at his home in Cambuslang.

His lawyer Pat Campbell said that his condition had not changed, and that on one measure, "there is a slight deterioration".

Sheriff Paul Reid ruled: "Against that background, I will make no order."

Macaskill went on regular holidays, bought a Harley Davidson motorbike and also travelled to London for shopping trips to Harrods.

He faced a number of charges including being involved in a fraudulent VAT scheme and receiving criminal property.

The court heard that the scam occurred between February 2003 and March 2014.

Macaskill ran the Bigga Bites and Kwik Snax sandwich production companies from a factory in Cambuslang.

The court heard he submitted 34 false VAT return forms which authorised repayments of £829,320 through Bigga Bites.

He also made a bogus claim of an NHS contract with his business to get £88,543 in 2008 from a VAT return claim.

Holyrood candidate

Macaskill then made cash deposits from the fraud into the bank accounts of the Rutherglen and Cambuslang Conservative Association and the Glasgow Conservative Campaign Forum.

A total of 11 cheques were made out to Kwik Snax from The Rutherglen and Cambuslang Conservative Association general account with a value of £8,617.

A further 52 cheques totalling £193,790 were made out to Kwik Snax from the Glasgow Conservative Campaign Forum.

Two cheques worth £6,300 were also made out to Macaskill directly from the organisation.

Macaskill - an ex-district court judge - reportedly received an out-of-court settlement from the Scottish Conservatives in 2012 having been dumped as a Holyrood election candidate.

His removal paved the way for future leader Ruth Davidson to get into parliament.

Macaskill later described the Scots Tories as "inept and morally corrupt".