Ex-Tory council leader jailed over £188,000 romance fraud

Andrew Polson currently sits as an independent for Bearsden South

A former council leader who carried out a £188,000 romance fraud has been jailed for 22 months.

Andrew Polson, 53, persuaded former partner Ann Kelly, 72, to give him money to buy property which would then be sold on or rented out.

However Polson, who was a Conservative politician on East Dunbartonshire Council, put his sole name on the title deeds without telling her and used part of the money to fund trips and a birthday party for his mother-in-law.

He was also convicted of embezzling more than £9,000 from Christian radio station Revival FM after being found guilty during a trial at Glasgow Sheriff Court.

Polson, who co-led the council between 2018 and 2022, was suspended by the Scottish Conservatives after the accusations were made public.

He now sits as an independent for Bearsden South.

Polson had known Miss Kelly for 24 years, after meeting at church when he was an organ player.

They began a relationship in 2013 which ended in 2018 as Polson got married, but resumed in May 2021.

Polson formed a company called AA Lettings with the idea of flipping properties, however Miss Kelly never signed any paperwork to start the business.

Miss Kelly used part of her divorce settlement to pay Polson £40,500, which she believed was being used to buy out his former partner's share of a property in Bellshill, Lanarkshire.

She later gave him a further £146,000 to purchase a home in Bearsden, which she thought she would solely own.

'Under his spell'

Miss Kelly was also paying about £200 a month into the AA Lettings bank account, which she believed was going towards costs of repairs at the two properties.

However, Polson put his own name on the title deeds of the home and, when Miss Kelly got access to the firm's financial records, she found the money she paid in was being used to fund Polson's social life.

The trial also heard that Polson used the bank card from the now defunct Revival FM to pay for blinds, tiles and a kitchen for the Bearsden property, as well as £2,500 to a Glasgow casino.

Sheriff Reid told Polson that Miss Kelly had been "under his spell" and believed he would "look after her".

He said: "You devised a dishonest scheme to ransack not only her emotions but her finances for your personal gain.

"I am quite satisfied that the only option available to me is custody to mark the consequences to your victim and to make it clear that anyone who engages in this behaviour and those contemplating it will be caught and dealt with severely."

Polson was also given a three-year non-harassment order prohibiting his contact with his victim and disqualified from being the director of a company for five years.