A 51-year-old former director of a haulage company has been jailed for 16 months after fraudulently obtaining cash.
James Campbell, of Bearsden, East Dunbartonshire, was a director at West of Scotland Heavy Haulage, when he overcharged a company £110,000 for the transportation of wind turbine parts by changing invoices from the Scottish Police Authority (SPA) and South Wales Police.
The Standard reports that the HGV firm had a contract with Siemens Gamesa in Navarra, Spain, to transport the components to three Scottish sites and another in Wales in 2017.
However, a police investigation found Campbell was amending invoices to gain additional funds from the client over an eight month period, prosecutors said.
Campbell was sentenced at Airdrie Sheriff Court on Tuesday (June18) after previously pleading guilty to a charge of fraud.
With the firm requiring a police escort, which it told the client would be charged at cost, the two police forces invoiced West of Scotland Heavy Haulage in Cumbernauld, North Lanarkshire.
Evidence uncovered by Police Scotland’s Economic Crime Unit revealed that between January and August 2017, Campbell altered and falsified invoices from the SPA and South Wales Police to inflate the price of the police escorts.
It found that there were also claims for occasions when no escorts were used to accompany HGVs.
Les Brown, procurator fiscal for south Strathclyde, said: “Fraud is not a victimless crime. This was a brazen example of an individual inflicting serious financial harm on an overseas company and its employees.
“James Campbell was involved in a fraudulent enterprise concerning a significant sum of money. We take such criminality very seriously and will not stop at prosecution and have commenced proceedings to recover the benefit he gained from his criminal activities.
“This case demonstrated the ability of prosecutors and justice partners to effectively prepare and prosecute a crime of this nature and should send a strong message to others involved in this kind of criminal behaviour.”
The total amount fraudulently obtained was £110,000 and Campbell will now also be the subject of confiscation action under proceeds of crime legislation.
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Gareth has more than 20 years’ experience as a journalist having started his career in local newspapers in the 1990s. Prior to joining Fleet News in 2008, he worked in the public sector as a media advisor and is currently news editor at Fleet News.
Scrum half - 24/06/2024 17:21
There are further ramifications that the Directors of haulage company's face after being convicted of Fraud. The company may also have their Operators Licence with the Traffic Commissioner suspended or at worse withdrawn or cancelled due to the fraud offence as the company's 'Good Repute' maybe called into question. As a result it couldput the livelyhoods of all those employed by the company into danger. It goes even further The Operaters Licence Holder may be barred from holding future 'O' Licences !!